April 20th, 2006
Texas Dandelion (Update)
You’ll think me a poor gardener when I admit that I didn’t even recognize a dandelion.
The other morning this bright spot of yellow caught my eye and I acquainted myself with this graceful, yellow flower. Consulting Marshall Enquist’s Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country, I find that it is Texas dandelion, Pyrrhopappus multicaulis, also known as manystem false dandelion.
As Karel Capek says in The Gardener’s Year, “A flower without a name is a weed, a flower with a Latin name is somehow raised to a state of dignity. If a nettle grows on your bed, label it “Urtica dioica” and you will respect it.”
The leaves do look like a dandelion’s, but it has a multiple stems almost 18 inches tall.
One source said that it is distinguished from the common by the having leaves along the stems. The dark anthers also sets it apart.
Two different sources say that it is a cool-weather annual. I’m glad it chose this week of record highs to bloom. I don’t care if it is a dandelion, or merely a false one, I think it’s lovely.
by M Sinclair Stevens in Austin, Texas
April 19th, 2006
I wouldn’t have known it was a dandelion either. It’s very pretty. What does the foliage look like?
Pam, I’ve taken some more photos so that you can see the foliage and the overall look of the Dandelion. — mss
April 20th, 2006
Looks like the chicory annual (Cichorium intybus) we get up here.
April 21st, 2006
It is a very pretty flower. It has a delicate wildflower-look to it. Nice color, too. I could live with that dandelion. Yesterday I drove by a lawn that was absolutely covered in dandelions, the kind that crouch down to the grass & take over. I could barely see the green lawn, there were so many dandelions, it was quite remarkable. Time to make dandelion wine?