4. Taraxacum sect. Oligantha Soest, Wentia. 10: 8. 1963.
短喙蒲公英组 duan hui pu gong ying zu
Plants small, base usually densely hairy. Leaves usually arachnoid; petiole ± unwinged; leaf blade deeply lobed; lobes usually patent. Involucre narrow, usually to 6 mm wide. Phyllaries abaxially sparsely to densely arachnoid or less often surface glabrous, margin often long ciliate; outer phyllaries 6-10(-12), imbricate or subimbricate, broadly lanceolate to ovate, usually less than 5-6(-7) mm, appressed, margin with paler central part, apically corniculate or with a horn at apex, horn usually blackish and erect. Receptacle glabrous or with a few arachnoid hairs. Florets few (usually less than 30 but sometimes less than 15), yellow. Achene grayish straw-colored brown to grayish brown, 5-6.5 mm; body almost smooth or very sparsely spinulose above, very gradually and indistinctly narrowing into beak, cone not visible or thick and broadly conic, spinules few and remote; beak 0.2-4 mm, thick. Pappus yellowish white to pale brownish, 4.5-6 mm, often fragile.
About 15-18 species: centered in C Asia; two species in China.
In addition to the species listed below, Taraxacum pseudominutilobum Kovalevskaja was reported to occur in China (FRPS 80(2): 12. 1999). However, this name is based on the material from the Chatkal Range, W Tian Shan, and Angren Plateau, both in Uzbekistan, and the material studied shows that it is probably confined to these regions. No similar plants from China were seen.
