Taraxacum officinale, SE: Maskros, DE: Gewöhnlicher Löwenzahn,
NL: Paardenbloem, UK: Common Dandelion

Scientific name:  Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg
Swedish name:  Maskros
German name:  Gewöhnlicher Löwenzahn
Nederlandse naam:  Paardenbloem
English name:  Common Dandelion
Family:  Asteraceae / Compositae, Korgblommiga växter

Flowers in Sweden

Life form:  Herbaceous perennial, hemicryptophyt
Stems:  Leafless, hollow, pubescent under calathide head, with milky juice channels; height 5-50 cm; can be tinted purplish
Leaves:  Rosette, lanceolate or oblong, runcinate incised, from the entire irregular-dentate leaves up to the deep-pinnatipartite leaves with narrow lateral shares, upperleaf sometimes naked, underleaf more often pubescent; 5-40cm.
Flowers:  Hermaphrodite; yellow, ligulate, internal and tubular florets
Flowering Period:  May, June
Fruits:  Light-brown achene with a pappus-cop (6-10 mm) with simple white hair on a long thin leg
Habitat:  Throughout the country; along roads, trails, garden, park, urban, waste ground

Taraxacum officinale, Maskros, Gewöhnlicher Löwenzahn,  Paardenbloem, Common Dandelion


Derivation of the botanical name:
Taraxacum, medieval name traceable through Arabic to the Persian talkh chakok, meaning "bitter herb".
officinale, officina, herb pharmacy; alias, of or pertaining to; sold as an herb; medicinal.
  • The standard author abbreviation F.H. Wigg is used to indicate Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers (1746 – 1811) , a German botanist.

Zweden, Bloemen, Natuur, Reizen


Taraxacum officinale, Maskros, Gewöhnlicher Löwenzahn,  Paardenbloem, Common Dandelion


Vilda blommor i Sverige