Taraxacum atrans is a species of terrestrial, perennial, herb in the family Asteraceae native to the region from central Asia to Mongolia and West Himalaya.Taraxacum atrans Schischk. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved August 3, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:252810-1
Description Vegetative characteristics Taraxacum atrans is a terrestrial, perennial, 6–10 cm tallTaraxacum pamiricum. (n.d.). Cichorieae Portal. Retrieved August 4, 2025, from https://cichorieae.e-taxonomy.net/portal/cdm_dataportal/taxon/728bfcb4-ad15-4a24-a16b-a15633228c9e herbTaraxacum atrans Schischk. (n.d.-b). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved August 4, 2025, from https://eol.org/pages/6212612 with slender roots. The rosulate,Taraxacum pamiricum. (2016, December 12). Gebirgspflanzen Für Ihren Steingarten - Flora Montana. Retrieved August 4, 2025, from https://www.floramontana.de/pflanzen/s-t/detail/taraxacum-pamiricum.html glabrous, oblanceolate, undivided leaves with glabrous, pale green, winged or unwinged petiolesTaraxacum atrans. (n.d.). Cichorieae Portal. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from https://cichorieae.e-taxonomy.net/portal/cdm_dataportal/taxon/e7fe732b-542b-41fb-866a-ba9f8f722e51 are 2–8 cm long, and 3–12 mm wide. Generative characteristics The solitary to few brown to green scapes with arachnoid hairs below the capitulum are almost as long as the leaves. The yellow capitulum is 1.5–2 cm wide. The florets are light yellow. Pollen is rarely produced, but if present, the grains are irregularly sized. The achenes are yellowish-brown. The yellowish white pappus is 5.5–6 mm long.
Taxonomy It was described by Boris Konstantinovich Schischkin in 1964.Botanicheskiĭ institut (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR), Mifal tirgume ha-mada ha-Yisreeli., & Smithsonian Libraries. (1968). Flora of the U.S.S.R (Vol. 29, p. 502). Israel Program for Scientific Translations. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30063646 It has one synonym: Taraxacum pamiricum However, it was remarked that it is difficult to compare Taraxacum atrans to other taxa, because the type specimen does not possess achenes and the description of the achenes in the original publication may refer to unripe achenes or to achenes from another species. Etymology The specific epithet atrans means darkening.Jacobs, S. W. L. (1992). New species, lectotypes and synonyms of Australasian Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae). Telopea, 4(4), 635-641.
Distribution and habitat It is native to Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Mongolia, Tadzhikistan, Pakistan, and India,Taraxacum atrans Schischk. (n.d.-c). Catalogue of Life. Retrieved August 4, 2025, from https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/7BL7V where it occurs in alpine pastures,Nowak, A., Nobis, M., Nowak, S., Nobis, A., Wróbel, A., Swierszcz, S., ... & Kusza, G. (2020). Illustrated flora of Tajikistan and adjacent areas. p. 37. Polish Academy of Sciences, Botanical Garden Center for Biological Diversity Conservation and Polish Botanical Society. stony slopes, gravel beds, and alpine salt-marshes.Nowak, A., Nowak, S., Nobis, M. (2020). The Pamir-Alai Mountains (Middle Asia: Tajikistan). In: Noroozi, J. (eds) Plant Biogeography and Vegetation of High Mountains of Central and South-West Asia. Plant and Vegetation, vol 17. Springer, Cham.
Cultivation It can be cultivated in moist or well drained, gravelly, humus-rich soil under bright conditions.Slabý, P. (n.d.). Taraxacum atrans Schischk. Rock Garden Plants Database. Retrieved August 4, 2025, from https://flora.kadel.cz/cb/kvCard22140.html
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