Taraxacum guntense Dengubenko (1982: 1140)

Kirschner, Jan & Štěpánek, Jan, 2017, A revision of Taraxacum sect. Atrata, a dandelion group centred in the Middle Asia, and the problem of Taraxacum brevirostre, Phytotaxa 305 (4), pp. 225-261 : 246

10. Taraxacum guntense Dengubenko (1982: 1140) .

Type: — TADZHIKISTAN. Tadzh. SSR. GBAO. Shugnanskiy khr. Ushch. Bogiv-Dara, pritok Gurmordzh, galechnik [Upper Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Shugnan Range, Bogiv-Dar Ravine, Gurmordzh tributary], 3800 m, 18 Aug 1977, A. V. Dengubenko 3483 ( LE, no. det. 6513, holotype).

Description: —Plants 10–20 cm tall. Petiole purplish to pink, long, narrow, unwinged; leaves vivid green, linear to narrowly linear-oblanceolate, undivided, outer leaves usually ± entire, middle ones subentire or remotely sinuate-dentate or remotely lobulate, with 1–3 pairs of short, narrowly triangular, recurved teeth 2–4 (–5) mm long, 6–20 × 0.7–1.2 cm, ± glabrous, apex subacute. Scapes brownish, sometimes nodding, subequalling leaves, glabrous. Capitulum ca. 2 cm wide. Involucre usually 7–9 mm wide, ± rounded at base. Outer bracts 11–15, not imbricate or slightly so (in unusually big capitula), narrowly lanceolate, c. 6–8 × 1.5–2.5 mm, appressed, ± flat,, middle part almost black, borders sharply delimited, later not so, whitish, c. 0.3–0.5 (–0.8) mm wide, ± glabrous, some bracts broadest in the middle and ± obtuse; inner bracts 14–18 mm long, often minutely corniculate. Ligules yellow, outer ligules ± flat, striped ± dark grey outside; inner ligule teeth blackish. Stigmas dirty yellow with slightly darker hairs. Anthers polliniferous; pollen grains irregular in size. Achene light greyish stramineous-brown, 4.8–5.2 (–5.7) mm long, very gradually narrowing into a thick conical cone ca. 0.7–0.8 mm long, almost smooth, with very sparse minute spinules (sometimes also squamules) or tubercules above, beak ± thickened, ca. 5–7 mm long, pappus ca. 7 mm long, pappus yellowish white.—Agamospermous.

Distribution: —A species known from two gatherings coming from the Pamir, Tadzhikistan ( Fig. 16 ).

Additional specimen examined: — TADZHIKISTAN. Tadzh. SSR. GBAO. Shugnanskiy khr. Ushch. Bogiv-Dara [Upper Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Shugnan Range, Bogiv-Dar Ravine], 3800 m, 21 Aug 1978, A. V. Dengubenko 4623 (LE!).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Distribution ranges of T. guntense (circle), T. orientali-atratum (square), and T. pamiricum (triangle).