Taraxacum gelricum Soest (sect. Palustria Dahlst.) bij Nekkeveld, Gelderland

Taraxacum gelricum is an apomictic dandelion belonging to the section Palustria Dahlst. The species was described by van Soest in Acta Botanica Neerlandica in 1965. Until the year of publication, Taraxacum gelricum has been collected under the name T. limnanthes Hagl. subspecies limnanthoides Soest, a form which currently is considered to correspond with T. palustre (Lyons) Symons. Taraxacum gelricum and T. palustre are not always easy to distinguish; this is especially true for herbarium material that was collected a long time ago. In the field, however, the two species clearly differ from each other: well-developed plants of T. gelricum can easily be recognized by their leaves, which have straight, very pointed lobes, and they can be further distinguished from T. palustre by the loose (not appressed) outer involucre bracts, which are narrower than those of T. palustre and have scarious borders that also are much narrower. Taraxacum gelricum is a very rare species with a limited distribution area. In the Netherlands, it has been found with certainty in the Gelderse Vallei, in France in a few places in coastal areas along the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean, while in Germany an old 19th century record is known from the area around Münster. There are no recent records of the species from France and it is considered to be extinct in Germany. In the Gelderse Vallei, Taraxacum gelricum was found in the 1960s in three locations, where it was growing in meadows as part of the fen meadow association Cirsio-Molinietum. As far as known, the species has disappeared from these meadows due to the enormous decline in surface and quality of this biotope. In the period 1977‒1993 the species was found in two locations in the northern part of the Gelderse Vallei that were situated on the landside along the old dyke of the former Zuiderzee, of which the location near Nekkeveld was the richest. There the species grew in abundance, together with Triglochin maritima and Taraxacum palustre, in a subhalophilous wet meadow. Although Taraxacum gelricum is nowadays still present at Nekkeveld, it occurs there only in small numbers. Halophytes do not occur there anymore. The current vegetation can be assigned to the Ranunculo-Senecionetum aquatici, a Calthion palustris association. In this rather closed grassland, T. gelricum is limited to some bare spots caused by mowing. This also applies to T. akteum and T. anglicum, critical species that used to occur in many locations along the eastern coast of the Zuiderzee. The hay-meadow derives its botanical value mainly from the special dandelions flora. The presence of T. frugale, T. lucidum, and T. aequilobum also contribute to the botanical value of the site.