Dudhi / Common Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & more
How to identify Dudhi
Identify Dudhi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Fluffy globe of wind-dispersed seeds (dandelion clock).
- Confirm leaf shape: Obovate.
- Confirm leaf margin: Toothed.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Head.
- In India, compare location records such as Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Taraxacum officinale
- Genus
- Taraxacum
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- High elevations
- Native to
- Tropical America
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Assam, West Bengal, Punjab
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- ObovaterecordedEgg-shaped but broader near the tip rather than the base.“The leaves are 5–45 cm (2–17+3⁄4 in) long and 1–10 cm (1⁄2–4 in) wide, and they are oblanceolate, oblong, or obovate in shape, with the bases gradually narrowing to the petiole.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf margin
- ToothedrecordedA saw-like or jagged edge (serrate or dentate).“The leaf margins are typically shallowly lobed to deeply lobed and often lacerate or toothed with sharp or dull teeth.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dudhi itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- HeadrecordedA dense, tight cluster of many small stalkless flowers, packed into a rounded or flat head.“each flowering stem lacks bracts and has one single flower head.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dudhi itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Dudhi, Baran, dudal
- Nepali
- टुकी फूल
- Bengali
- Pitachumki
- Telugu
- Patri
- Kannada
- Kaadu shaavanthi
- Malayalam
- Dugddhapheni, ദുഗ്ധഫേനി, Taraxacum officinale
About Dudhi
Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a herb in the Asteraceae family. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and 5 other states. It grows in high elevations.
Uses
It is grown for parts that are eaten and long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
In culture
It carries a body of folklore around it.
Asteraceae
Daisy/Sunflower family
Dudhi belongs to the Asteraceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Asteraceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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