Moderating temperatures have also assisted Taraxacum officinale in becoming an all-year flower

Another factor that enables Taraxacum officinale to thrive in winter months when the number of pollinating insects (notably bees, butterflies, and hoverflies) is negligible is their ability to reproduce with or without pollination. Taraxacum officinale, which utilizes pollination during spring, summer, and autumn months when insects are in abundance, has the ability to reproduce apomictically or asexually, made possible by its morphology. Instead of being a single flower, Taraxacum officinale is actually a compilation of between 150-200 florets (each consisting of male and female organs) that rub up against each other (accomplishing the same task as insect pollination) during photo- (respond to change in lighting conditions) and thermonastic (respond to temperature change) movement in which the florets uncurl and open during the day and curl and close during the night. Such nastic movement is especially useful in protecting individual florets from degradation when cold temperatures are generally harshest since the closed blossom head provides a protective shield that shelters them from exposure. It also does not hurt that Taraxacum officinale has the ability to regenerate from both its root and stem, should it suffer damage.

Furthermore, because of their apomictic ability and the fact that plants are proactive as well as reactive organisms to their environment, it is likely that Taraxacum officinale reduces nectar (to reward warm weather insect pollinators which are negligible during winter months) production (a task that can expend up to 37% of energy attained from photosynthesis) to compensate for slowed photosynthetic activity and thus lower energy production because of less than optimal temperatures and reduced hours of sunshine during winter months. It is also likely that Taraxacum officinale reduces nectar production during winter months when it is not necessary since in the words of Peter V. Minorsky, Ph.D., Professor of Natural Sciences, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY “plants don’t waste nectar… [they] generally produce different amounts of nectar during the course of [a] day to correspond with the greatest activity of the pollinator. Night blooming plants, for example, only produce nectar during the night.” However, experiments are needed to confirm this.

At the same time, despite its apomictic ability, Taraxacum officinale uses nastic movement and nectar as weapons against neighboring plants to hinder their reproductive ability (which at times has resulted in a negative impact on crop yields while conversely benefiting insect pollinators, especially bees when nectar is scarce during early spring and late autumn). Based on a study documented by Ikuo Kandori, Toshihiro Hirao, Satoshi Matsunaga, and Tsutomu Kurosaki, An invasive dandelion unilaterally reduces the reproduction of a native congener through competition for pollination (Oecologia, 20 January 2009), Taraxacum officinale, with it production of an overabundance of nectar during warm weather months, “attracted more pollinator visits [than Taraxacum japonicum (a native Japanese dandelion), resulting in] negative effects” for Taraxacum japonicum, their congener (a plant that belongs to the same species class), which is not apomictic and thus relies solely upon insect pollination for propagation. Furthermore, based on a study by Osamu Tanaka, Yuuji Tanaka, and Hiromitsu Wada, Photonastic and thermonastic opening of capitulum in dandelion, Taraxacum officinale and Taraxacum japonicum (Journal of Plant Research, 21 September 2006), Taraxacum officinale engage in photonastic opening at lower temperatures (ranging by as much as 10? F) and for longer periods (ranging from 3-5 hours) than Taraxacum japonicum and another close relative, Taraxacum albidum further exploiting its pollination advantage.

Taraxacum officinale also thrive in all months because of its efficient means of seed dispersal (made possible by its parachute morphology which enhances transport and opportunities for survival especially since a breeze of only 1.44 miles per hour is sufficient to keep their achenes (seeds) aloft) regardless of environmental conditions and the ability of its achenes to enter a state of dormancy during periods of unfavorable environmental conditions. In fact, Taraxacum officinale seeds can wait up to 9 years to germinate if conditions are not conducive for its survival regardless if they lay on dry land or are submerged underwater.[2] Consequently, in addition to flowering, Taraxacum officinale generate achenes every month of the year.


Moderating temperatures have also assisted Taraxacum officinale in becoming an all-year flower. Gradually over time, as global mean temperatures have warmed, the traditional growing season of the common dandelion has been extended deeper into the winter, which at times has meant exposing the plant to harsh cold. Consequently, Taraxacum officinale have likely produced progeny, as mentioned above, to withstand greater winter extremes leading to flowering and seed production throughout the Northeast’s winter months as well as expansion to new areas such as the arctic regions of Alaska and Siberia. Continued global (prior to the onset of a what is believed to be a temporary period of cooling), is likely to promote the spread of Taraxacum officinale deeper into tundra-like regions and ensure that its all-year flowering nature becomes the norm instead of an anomaly isolated to a few years.

The rising concentration of CO2 levels in the atmosphere also promotes Taraxacum officinale growth. Based on an experiment that exposed Taraxacum officinale to elevated levels of CO2 documented by Tamara M. McPeek and Xianzhong Wang, Reproduction of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) in a higher CO2 environment (Weed Science, 2007), the plant when exposed to double the normal amount of CO2 (730 μmol (micromoles with a mole being the amount of pure substance containing the same number of chemical units as there are atoms in exactly 12 grams of carbon-12) mol-1 versus 370 μmol mol-1 from their nascent state until their reproductive maturity) produced 83% more inflorescences and 32% more achenes.