喜马拉雅蒲公英组 xi ma la ya pu gong ying zu

Type: Taraxacum sherriffii Soest.

Sectio distincta phyllariis involucralibus exterioribus plerumque numerosis, adpressis vel laxe adpressis, lineari-lanceolatis usque linearibus, conspicue cornutis vel corniculatis, saepissime distincte anguste pallide marginatis, flosculis plerumque luteis, stigmatibus non atro-coloratis, plerumque pallide virescentibus, acheniis colore variantibus (stramineis, rubro-badiis, ochraceis vel atro-griseis), corpore plerumque crasso, 1-1.4 mm lato, superne dense spinuloso, spinulis mediocribus rectis erecto-patentibus, in pyramidem vulgo crassam subcylindricam saepissime (0.8-)1-1.4(-1.9) mm longam subabrupte transiente, rostro plerumque 5-7 mm longo, pappo albo.

Petiole narrow; leaf blade deeply pinnatisect. Involucre 6-10 mm wide, base usually narrowly rounded. Outer phyllaries usually numerous (to 25), deep green to dark green, linear-lanceolate or linear, appressed or loosely so, usually distinctly pale bordered, apex conspicuously horned or corniculate. Ligules usually yellow, rarely whitish. Stigmas yellow to yellowish green. Achene variously colored, straw-colored brown, dark red-brown, ochraceous, or dark blackish gray; body ± densely spinulose above, usually subabruptly narrowing into a usually subcylindric (0.8-)1-1.4(-1.9) mm cone, spinules straight and erect to erect-patent; beak usually 5-7 mm. Pappus white. Sexual or agamospermous.

About 12-15 species: China, India, Nepal; 11 species (ten endemic) in China.

The diversity of Taraxacum sect. Emodensia is centered in Sichuan and Xizang.

Taraxacum heteroloma Handel-Mazzetti (Monogr. Taraxacum, 120. 1907) is a name based on a very heterogeneous set of syntypes, of which some come from Xizang. Most of the syntypes belong to T. sect. Emodensia, but we were not able to select any lectotype that would be in accordance with the original description. None of the taxa recognized below can be equated with the well-developed syntypes. As a consequence, the name is not used in the present treatment and the problem remains to be studied. Another name reported from China (FRPS 80(2): 52. 1999) is T. pseudostenoceras Soest (Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Bot. 2: 271. 1961). Its type material belongs to T. sect. Emodensia, but we failed to find any Chinese material safely referable to this taxon. The name T. kansuense Nakai ex Koidzumi (Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 50: 91. 1936) may belong to T. sect. Emodensia. However, as the description is imperfect, lacking achenes, and, most importantly, the type material is not currently extant, there is not enough information to deal with the name in detail. The name T. kawaguchii Kitamura (Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 15: 77. 1953) is based on a plant deposited in TNS. The specimen and the original description clearly show that the name belongs to T. sect. Emodensia. However, the type plant is not well preserved, and there are no achenes. We therefore are unable to complete the taxonomic study of this name or taxon.