Taraxacum faeroense (Dahlst.) Dahlst., a dandelion

There is only the one Fermanagh record of this dandelion, collected by Meikle and co-workers. The card index of Fermanagh Flora records that Desmond Meikle created indicates that this plant was originally identified as T. spectabile Dahlst. The station details are: Ross Lough, near Carr Bridge, 1951, MCM & D. As with their other Taraxacum records, the whereabouts of any vouchers is unknown, and, regrettably, neither the Revised Typescript Flora nor the associated Card Index records who it was determined the specimen(s).

In the light of vast changes in Taraxacum taxonomy during the past six decades, it seems likely that some at least of the MCM & D records listed above as T. palustre, probably belong here. It is hoped that vouchers for them will eventually appear.

According to the BSBI Dandelion Handbook, this is the most widespread dandelion in Britain, particularly in the N & W of the country. The Dandelion Handbook hectad map (Map 18), however, showed this taxon as being extremely thinly scattered in Ireland; it appeared to be mainly coastal and largely recorded in the E & NE of the island, although it did also leap across country to the W coast. The Dandelion Handbook plots only five inland hectad squares for Ireland, and none at all in NW Ireland, including Fermanagh. It appears very possible that the existence of the Taraxacum records made by MCM & D were unknown to the authors of the BSBI Dandelion Handbook. The more recent 2021 Field Handbook hectad map for Ireland contains many more records, displaying discoveries in a total of around 44 squares, a quite high proportion of them, up to around 18, in sites inland from the coast.

Richards (2021) now reckons T. faeroense is, "Native. Common and widespread in wet acidic sites". He points out that it is found on, "moorland, upland grassland and bogs", and is, "usually the only Taraxacum species met in these habitats.". Having said this, Richards also reports that T. faeroense is, "Very scarce in eastern and southern England where it is limited to fens and water meadows", and it has also disappeared from many previously reported sites.

As its name suggests, T. faeroense also occurs in the Faeroe Isles, Norway and Iceland (Richards 2021).

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