Taraxacum jenniskensiae Sahlin, species nova (Asteraceae)

Mrs Jenniskens has recently reported a remarkable Taraxacum from the Department Sarthe, France, in this journal (1984). It is a diploid with sexual reproduction and Mrs Jenniskens has proved that it can be self-fertilised so the plant is self-compatible, which is an unusual character among West-European Taraxaca and has been only previously reported to occur in “primitive” species such as T. bessarabicum (Horn.) Hand.-Mazz., and T. serotium (W. & K.) Poir. (Richards 1973). However, the plant under discussion is a “modern” type related to section Taraxacum, most members of which are triploid obligate agamosperms. Although outbreeding (sporophytically self-incompatible) sexual diploids, such as are found elsewhere in section Taraxacum in France (Den Nijs & Sterk 1984) are very variable and may defy “agamospecies type” classification, an inbreeder such as this is much less variable. It can theretofore be morphologically distinguished and may for those reasons be confidently described. I propose the following name to honour an interesting discovery: