Photographs: The Burren, Co. Clare

Irish dandelion Taraxacum amarellum Caisearbhán gaelach Family: Asteraceae Flowering time: April - July. Perennial. Endemic native. A member of the Taraxacum section Palustria. Previously identified as Taraxacum palustre but it is now thought that probably all Irish records of T. palustre are instead T. amarellum (Kirschner and Stepanek 1998). Flowers similar to those of Dandelion but the leaves are very narrow and linear, scarcely or not lobed. Distinctive red stalks. Outer bracts widest just above the middle, adpressed with a broad whitish-green border. An Endangered species endemic to western Ireland on seasonally inundated grassland by lakes and turloughs and on the Shannon floodplain

Irish Dandelion, Taraxacum amarellum, Caisearbhán gaelach