14. Taraxacum tortilobum Florstr., Acta Soc. Fauna Fl. Fenn. 39(4): 11. 1915.

Type.

Finland, Satakunta, Pori (Bjomeborg), Rafso (Reposaari), the cemetery area, 8 June 1911, B. Florstrom (lectotype H 068135, designated by Doll 1973: 49; isolectotype in H 202526, 202527, 202538, 202541-202543 and in S) .

Description.

Plants small to middle-sized, up to 15(-20) cm tall. Leaves greyish-green to light green, sparsely hairy, approximately (5-)7-10(-14) cm long and (1.5-)2-3(-4.5) cm wide, usually 3-5 times longer than wide, blades elliptical to oblanceolate, with 4-6 pairs of lateral lobes; lateral lobes opposite to remote; lateral lobes of the inner leaves patent or recurved, widened at the base, crisped, with nume-rous filiform teeth at the distal and proximal margins, usually curled at the apex; lateral lobes of the outer leaves triangular, entire or with a few filiform teeth at margins; interlobes frequently dentate; terminal lobe of the inner leaves tripartite with an elongate tongue-shaped tip; terminal lobe of the outer leaves triangular or tripartite, often with a tongue-shaped tip; petioles narrowly winged, pale purplish-red. Scapes as long as or longer than leaves, somewhat hairy, green or suffused pale purplish-red. Capitulum convex, 3-4 cm in diameter, pale yellow, outer strips grey-purple; inner bracts greyish-green, corniculate; outer bracts usually 12-14, ovate to lanceolate, usually 6-7(- 8) mm long and (-1.5)2-3 mm broad, grey-green, suffused with purple, with a white hyaline margin 0.1-0.2 mm broad, loosely adpressed to obliquely spreading, purple at apex, corniculate; stigmas grey-purple, pollen present. Achenes pale grey-brown, achene body spinulose above, 4.7-5.3 mm long (incl. the 1.4-1.9 mm long, narrowly conical cone); for specimens growing in full light achene measurements are 4-4.4 mm (incl. the 0.9-1.3 mm long cone).

Flowering period.

(April) May.

Habitat.

Sandy pine forest edges, dry lawns, scrubs. On the coast of the Baltic Sea ( Gdańsk Stogi) we noticed this species on a sandy path at the edge of a pine-false acacia forest (growing together with Elymus repens) and on the scrub edge, accompanied by Ballota nigra, Dactylis glomerata, Erigeron annuus, Ficaria verna, Geranium pusillum, G. robertianum, Lamium purpureum, Poa nemoralis, P. pratensis, Stellaria media, Taraxacum proximum, Veronica hederifolia s.l.

Somatic chromosome number.

24 (Wolanin and Musiał 2018).

General distribution.

Widespread European species reported from Spain, Great Britain, France, Corsica, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia (Van Soest 1967; Richards 1969; Adema et al. 1982; Lundevall and Øllgaard 1999; Mosyakin and Fedo-ronchuk 1999; Uhlemann 2003; Wendt and Øllgaard 2015; Wolanin and Musiał 2018).

Distribution in Poland.

Species scarce, noted only in Gdańsk (Baltic Sea seashore) (Fig. 36B).

Specimens examined.

DA80 - Gdańsk, Roland pleasure ground, lawn on sandy ground, 54°24'45"N, 18°36'18"E, 08.05.2016, M. Wolanin (003289 UR); DA81 - Gdańsk (Stogi), sandy place on pine forest edge (along concrete walkway), 54°22'27"N, 18°43'40"E, 7 May 2016, M. Wolanin (003263, 003276, 003302 UR); Gdańsk (Stogi), sands, 54°22'08"N, 18°43'31"E, 8 May 2016, M. Wolanin (003315 UR).

Notes.

Species included in the Dissimilia group, easily identified by a combination of pale grey-brown achenes, leaves strongly crisped, lateral lobes often toothed and curled, outer phyllaries loosely adpressed to obliquely spreading (Figs 39, 40).