Taraxacum compitale Kirschner & Štěpánek, 2025

Kirschner, Jan, Štěpánek, Jan & Buryy, Vladimir V., 2025, Towards a revision of Taraxacum sect. Borealia (Compositae, Crepidinae) in Siberia and the continental Far East, with special reference to the dandelions of the Altai and Kamchatka, Phytotaxa 679 (1), pp. 1-147 : 26

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.679.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16717021
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0399F353-FF8A-FFAF-FF78-FF124D4AB980
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Taraxacum compitale Kirschner & Štěpánek
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

4. Taraxacum compitale Kirschner & Štěpánek View in CoL , sp. nov.

Type:—[ RUSSIA, Altai Republic] USSR, Sibiria austro-occid., montes Altaj, distr. Šebalino, secundum viam publicam non procul a pago Topučaja, ca. 2000 m, 27 Jun 1988 , J. Kirschner , cultivated as T 165 ( PRA, no. det. 35857, holotype) .

Etymology:—At the crossroads.

Diagnosis:—Plantae bene dignoscendae stigmatibus luteis vel sordide luteis, phyllariis erectis vel laxe adpressis (nec arcuato-patentibus), longioribus, et achenii corpore conspicue, longe spinuloso, in pyramidem subcylindricam subabrupte abeunte.

Plants medium-sized, relatively robust, usually 10–15 cm tall. Petiole usually suffused light brownish-purplish, narrowly to very broadly winged, sparsely arachnoid, tunic absent. Leaves slightly brownish green, often irregularly suffused purplish, later interlobes blotched or bordered brown-purple, blade oblong to oblong-oblanceolate in outline, usually 6–10 × (1.5–) 2–3 cm, very heterophyllous: some leaves often undivided, dentate, or shallowly pinnatilobed with 3–4 pairs of ± patent to forward-pointing deltoid to deltoid-triangular lobes, many leaves ± pinnatisect, with 3–5 pairs of ± patent (to ± forward-pointing) narrowly deltoid to very narrowly deltoid-triangular lateral segments, distal margin often concave, entire or very remotely denticulate (in proximal segments), proximal margin usually ± straight, entire; terminal segment relatively small, trilobed to tripartite, entire; interlobes distinct, usually 0.5–1.0 × 0.2–0.5 cm, often denticulate (and/or with a single thin lobule), often bordered or blotched brown-purple. Scapes brownish green, arachnoid or sparsely arachnoid, overtopping leaves, often growing from the centre of leaf rosette. Capitulum yellow to relatively light yellow, ca. 3.5 cm wide. Involucre olivaceous-green, ca. 9–11 mm wide and ± broadly rounded at base. Outer phyllaries 12–17, ± erect to loosely appressed, ± not imbricate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, usually 7–10 × (2.5–) 3.0–4.0 (–4.5) mm, surface with a darker, blackish green middle strip ca. 1 mm wide, otherwise light olivaceous-green, border whitish-membranous, 0.2–0.4 mm wide, often bordered purplish inside, margin ± glabrous, apex with black-purple horns usually ca. 1.5 mm long; inner phyllaries dark olivaceous-green, often coalescing, 14–17 mm long, black corniculate. Outer ligules flat to canaliculate, striped greenish grey, or even blackish outside, teeth grey(-purple) from outside, yellow inside, inner ligule teeth ± yellow. Stigmas yellow, ± slightly dirty yellow, sometimes pale greyish yellow. Pollen present, pollen grains irregular in size. Achenes light greyish stramineous-brown, usually 3.9–4.1 × 1.0– 1.1 mm, body ± densely covered with long distinct spinules and some squamules in upper 1/3–1/2, typically the cone base and the uppermost part of achene body with conspicuously long acuminate spinules to 0.4 mm long, usually subabruptly narrowing into a subcylindrical cone 0.6–0.8 mm long, ca. 0.35–0.40 mm thick at base, ca. 0.3 mm distally; beak thin, 9.5–10.5 mm long, pappus white, 5–6 mm long. – Agamospermous. – Fig. 3C View FIGURE 3 , 10 View FIGURE 10 , 11 View FIGURE 11 .

Diagnostic notes:—It differs from T. platycranum in erect to loosely appressed (vs. arcuate-patent to patent) outer phyllaries. The other taxa in the group with ± yellow stigmas have shorter and narrower outer phyllaries. Moreover, T. macroceras has a much shorter, conical cone.

Distribution:—Known from two localities (four cultivations) in the northern part of the Altai Republic (near Topuchaya and Khabarovka).

Specimens examined:—[ RUSSIA, Altai Republic] Gorno-Altaisk, Shebalino District, vicinity of Topuchaya village , 27 Jun 1988, J. Kirschner , cultivated as T 165 ( PRA, no. det. 36754). – Ibidem, cultivated as JŠ 3407 ( PRA, no. det. 36752). – Ongudai District , Khabarovka, between the main road and Maly Iľgumen’ river , 29–30 Jun 1988, J. Kirschner, cultivated as T 182 ( PRA, no. det. 36750). – Ibidem, cultivated as T 183 ( PRA, no. det. 36748) .