Taraxacum hultenii Dahlstedt (1926b: 11)

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 : 115-116

48. Taraxacum hultenii Dahlstedt (1926b: 11)

Type:—[ RUSSIA, Kamchatka, Yelizovo (formerly Zavoyko)] Kamtchatka, Savoiko , 9 Jul 1920, E. Hultén 355a ( S 13–2237 !, syntype; S 13–2239 !, syntype) . – Kamtchatka, Savoiko, 7 Jul 1920, E. Hultén 366 ( S 13–2238 !, syntype; S 10–38098 !, syntype; LE, no. det. 6051, isosyntype) .

Etymology:—Named in honour of Oskar Eric Gunnar Hultén (1894–1981), an outstanding Swedish botanist and plant geographer, an expert in Arctic floras, particularly those of Kamchatka and Alaska.

Plants medium-sized, to 20 cm tall. Petiole unwinged, winged in early middle leaves, slightly purplish or green, subglabrous, tunic absent. Leaves ± light green to vivid green, glabrous or with sparse arachnoid hairs along mid-vein beneath, ± narrowly oblanceolate in outline, ca. 8–18 × 2–3.5 cm, most often undivided and with usually patent triangular to narrowly triangular teeth or lobules, sometimes pinnatilobed to pinnatifid, with 2–4 pairs of narrowly triangular, patent or recurved, acute to acuminate lateral segments, distal margin straight, entire or with 1–2 large basal teeth or lobules, proximal margin ± straight, entire; terminal segment elongated, triangular-hastate to triangular-sagittate. Scapes brownish green, purplish distally, sparsely arachnoid to subglabrous, ± overtopping leaves. Capitulum deep yellow, ca. 4 cm wide. Involucre deep to dark olivaceous-green, ca. 9 mm wide and rounded at base. Outer phyllaries 8–12, ± appressed, ± imbricate, ovate (inner of them ± narrowly ovate), ca. (5.5–) 6.0–6.5 (–8.5) × (2.5–) 3.5–4.5 mm, surface light to deep olivaceous-green (distally often suffused purplish), with a thin blackish middle line, with a gradual transition in a paler, greenish-membranous border to ca. 0.5 mm wide, apex with an enormously long, perpendicular, elongated black-purple or black-green horn 2–4 (–5) mm long; inner phyllaries 14–15 mm long, with horns ca. 1.0– 1.5 mm long. Outer ligules flat, striped deep greyish green outside, teeth grey. Stigmas discoloured, ± greenish. Pollen present, pollen grains irregular in size. Achenes light greyish stramineous-brown to light olivaceous greyish, ca. 4.3–4.7 (–5.1) × 1.2–1.3 mm, body ± densely spinulose in upper 1/5–1/2, subgradually narrowing into a subconical cone 0.7–1.1 mm long, ca. 0.45–0.50 mm thick at base, ca. 0.3 mm distally; beak thin, ca. 10–11 mm long, pappus ± white, ca. 6 mm long. – Agamospermous. – Fig. 79 .

Diagnostic notes:—The ovate, short outer phyllaries with a broad paler border and long horns, and the long, densely, conspicuously spinulose achenes with a relatively long, ± subconical cone characterize T. hultenii . On the other hand, there is a striking similarity between T. hultenii and T. longicorne , and the main differences consist of more broadly winged petioles, and narrower outer phyllaries with an abrupt transition between the dark middle part and the paler border in the latter. A more detailed examination of both entities, using also a newly collected material, might reveal their conspecific status.

Distribution:— Taraxacum hultenii is known from Zavoyko in southern Kamchatka and from Bystrinskiy District in Central Kamchatka.

Specimens examined:—[ RUSSIA] Kamchatka, Bystrinskiy District, Sredinnyy Khrebet, between the brook of Vechnyy and the pass of Nodeka, ca. 900 m, 30 Jun 2014, K. Klimova (herb. V. V. Buryy, no. det. 36929). – Kamchatka, Bystrinskiy District, Sredinnyy Khrebet, valley of Ketagan the 1st, 55°28.904’N, 157°44.932’E, 602 m, 26 Jun 2014, K. Klimova (herb. V. V. Buryy, no. det. 36942) . – Kamchatka, Bystrinskiy District, Bystraya River, behing the pass of Gargachan , 650–680 m, 14–16 Jul 1988, O. A. Chernyagina ( KAM, no. det. 36919). – Less certain identification:— RUSSIA . Kamchatka, Bystrinskiy District, village of Esso, Rechnaya Street , 55°55.560’N, 158°42.780’E, 500 m, 14 Jun 2014, M. A. Dzhus & S. P. Lavrichenok 288 ( MSKU, no. det. 36930) .

Figures

FIGURE 79. Taraxacum hultenii. A, achene, not perfectly developed (LE, no. det. 6051). Scale bar = 1 mm. B, involucre; note the enormously long horn to the middle phyllary (S 10-38098). Scale bar = 5 mm.