Launaea taraxacifolia
Launaea taraxacifolia
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Requires a sunny position[1]. Prefers a relatively moist soil[1]. Succeeds in poor soils with a low water table[1]. Established plants are drought tolerant[1]. The plant is a weed within its native range. It can spread freely by the rhizomes in some circumstances[1, 2]. In addition, the light seeds are dispersed by wind - each plant produces thousands of seeds, though germination rates are low[1]. Young plants initially form a rosette of leaves, with thick roots developing later on in the season. In cultivation these roots are left in the ground during the dry season. From the onset of the rainy season, new rosettes are formed along the roots[1]. The leaves can be harvested all year round[2]. Seed can be collected about 3 - 4 months after sowing[1].
Propagation
Seed - Division of rhizomes. The roots are cut into 10cm lengths and these are planted horizontally and entirely covered with soil[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Launaea+taraxacifolia>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [2]Traditional Vegetables in Benin — Achigan-Dako E. Et al · Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science · 2009 ↩︎Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin.
- [3]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/