Taraxacum Japonicum and Taraxacum Officinale
Yomiuri: Foreign dandelions threatening native ones
Foreign dandelions are muscling out their Japanese cousins, a study has found. A nonindigenous dandelion is retarding seed production in native ones, increasing its number in the nation...According to the researchers, native dandelions only produce seeds after receiving pollen from the same species. On the other hand, nonnative Taraxacum officinale does not need pollen to produce seeds. If native dandelions receive pollen produced by nonnative ones, this cross-pollination rarely creates hybrid dandelions, most of which do not produce seeds anyway...Takakura said: "Even supposing the same amount of native and nonnative dandelions grow in the same field, far more seeds of nonnative flowers would be produced than those of native ones. The repetition of such conditions threatening the native dandelions creates an environment that makes the exotic dandelion the dominant one in the nation" ...more...
