Index / Search / Taraxacum officinale

§1 Plant — species · Asteraceae

Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg.

vernacular common dandelion


USDA
TAOF
GBIF
5394163
Rank
species
common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Platephotograph · Paul ReevesCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Taraxacum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
12–55 in/yr
pH range
4.8–7.5
Root depth
6 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
0.5 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
562,480
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 53 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/TAOF ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5394163 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z