Taraxacum oxoniense Dahlst., a dandelion

Two records were made on the same day in the same townland. The record details are: 27 March 1975; south-facing roadside bank at Stratonagher Td, near Conagher Forest; and secondly, a crevice in a south-facing limestone cliff nearby, also in Stratonagher Td. There are two vouchers in BEL for this microspecies, Accession Numbers H5016 and H5018.

Previously, this dandelion had been recorded in eleven Irish VCs and Map 9 in the 1997 Dandelion Handbook plotted no less than 22 hectads on the island. Since then, however, there has been a major increase in records of this dandelion in Ireland and the hectad map in the Field Handbook now displays 42 squares scattered around the island, mainly but not exclusively in coastal situations.

T. oxoniense is described in the Field Handbook as, "Common and widespread throughout England and Wales, on a variety of well-drained substrates, especially chalk and limestone grassland, dunes and walls.". It avoids acidic soils. However, the frequency and distribution in Scotland, especially N & W of Edinburgh, is almost entirely coastal, and the occurrence is very much more akin to the picture displayed in Ireland than in England and Wales.

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