纯白蒲公英 chun bai pu gong ying

Herbs to 10 cm tall, delicate. Petiole purplish to greenish, narrow to narrowly winged, ± sparsely arachnoid; leaf blade ± mid-green, linear, 3-7 × (0.2-)0.3-0.5(-0.7) cm, sparsely arachnoid, margin often entire but sometimes dentate to shallowly lobed; lateral teeth or lobules mostly 4-7 pairs, narrowly triangular, mostly 1-1.5 mm, patent; interlobes broad, margin entire; terminal lobe not distinctly developed. Scapes brownish green, subequaling leaves, ± sparsely arachnoid. Capitulum 1.5-2 cm wide. Involucre 5-7 mm wide, base ± rounded. Outer phyllaries (10-)14-17, deep to light green, often with a narrow blackish middle strip, and darker apically, ± imbricate, outermost ones ovate and 4-5 × 2-2.7 mm, middle ones ovate-lanceolate, ca. 5 × 2 mm, and 1/3-1/2 as long as inner ones, appressed, with a membranous 0.1-0.2 mm wide border, margin almost glabrous, apex flat to callose; inner phyllaries 8-9 mm, apex flat. Ligules inside pure white; outer ligules almost flat, outside striped pinkish or faintly gray pinkish; inner ligules white, with white or pinkish apical teeth. Stigmas grayish green to almost black. Anthers without pollen. Achene light grayish, (3.7-)4-4.5 × ca. 0.9 mm; body almost smooth below, subsparsely spinulose above, gradually narrowing into a subcylindric 0.7-1(-1.1) mm cone, spinules thin and erect-patent; beak 3.2-5.5 mm, thin. Pappus yellowish white, 5-6.5 mm. Fl. spring to summer. Agamosperm.

Temporarily wet subsaline to saline alpine grasslands, wet saline meadows in mountains; 2000-3000 m. S Xinjiang, W Xizang [Afghanistan, India, Tajikistan].

In areas adjacent to China Taraxacum candidatum reaches an elevation of ca. 5300 m.