Dandelion

Dandelion is a low-growing perennial broadleaf weed that forms a basal rosette of leaves close to the ground. The leaves are deeply toothed or lobed along the margins, giving them a jagged, arrow-like appearance, and are mid to dark green, hairless and arranged in a flat spiral radiating from a central growing point. From this rosette, hollow flower stalks rise several centimetres to over 20 cm, each topped with a single bright yellow flower head made up of many small strap-shaped florets.

After flowering, the flower head matures into a spherical seed head of fine, papery bristles (the familiar "puffball"), each seed attached to a parachute-like pappus that allows wind dispersal over considerable distances. Below ground, dandelion relies on a thick, fleshy taproot that can extend well over 30 cm deep, storing energy reserves that allow the plant to regenerate readily after mowing, slashing or incomplete hand removal.

It is a common and widespread weed across most of temperate and sub-tropical Australia, appearing in lawns, turf, garden beds, nursery containers, pastures and disturbed or neglected areas. It grows year-round in milder climates but is most vigorous during autumn, winter and spring when soil moisture is higher, often becoming less conspicuous over hot, dry summer periods before regrowing from the taproot.

Dandelion spreads primarily by seed, with a single plant capable of producing large numbers of wind-dispersed seeds over its flowering period, and seedlings can establish quickly in thin turf, bare soil or the media of container-grown nursery stock. Management relies on maintaining dense, healthy turf or groundcover to reduce establishment sites, physical removal that takes out as much of the taproot as possible, and appropriately timed and registered herbicide use, since any taproot fragments left in the soil can regenerate a new plant.