Pyrrhopappus carolinianus (Walter) DC.

Carolina False Dandelion; Carolina Desert Chicory

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Carolina False Dandelion is a native annual in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Carolina False Dandelion occurs on roadsides, in fields and pastures, in prairies, in lawns, and in disturbed woodlands. It is an annual with a tap root. Stems are green in color, usually branched, and glabrous or pubescent. All parts of the plant exude a milky white latex when damaged. Leaves are basal and cauline, with the cauline leaves reduced in size upwards. Leaves are lanceolate in outline with entire, pinnately lobed, or dentate margins. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are solitary on long peduncles and contain 50-150 ray flowers. The flowers are bright yellow to nearly white in color. The fruit is a reddish brown cylindrical achene with a long beak. The beak is topped by a crown of white pappus bristles. Carolina False Dandelion flower heads exhibit heliotropism, following the sun throughout the day. Carolina False Dandelion is pollinated by Hemihalictus lustrans, a small black bee in the family Halictidae.--A. Diamond

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Native

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