Taraxacum officinale subsp. officinale
Taraxacum officinale subsp. officinale
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
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At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 West Virginia county.
Who uses this plant?
80CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Taraxacum
- Abagrotis magnicupidaOne-Dotted Dart
- Agnorisma badinodisPale-Banded Dart
- Agrotis vetustaOld Man Dart
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
- Anicla illapsaSnowy Dart
- Apamea sordensBordered Apamea, Rustic Shoulder-Knot
- Apantesis annaAnna Tiger Moth
- Apantesis argeArge Tiger Moth
- Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
- Apantesis partheniceParthenice Tiger Moth
Show all 80
- Apantesis phalerataHarnessed Moth
- Apantesis virgoVirgin Tiger Moth
- Apantesis vittataBanded Tiger Moth
- Arctia parthenosSt. Lawrence Tiger Moth
- Autographa bimaculataTwo-Spotted Looper Moth
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Cerastis tenebriferaReddish Speckled Dart
- Choephora fungorumBent-Line Dart
- Chytolita morbidalisMorbid Owlet
- Clepsis persicanaWhite Triangle Tortrix
- Diarsia jucundaSmaller Pinkish Dart
- Elaphria chalcedoniaChalcedony Midget
- Elaphria grataGrateful Midget
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Eusarca confusariaConfused Eusarca
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Homorthodes furfurataNorthern Scurfy Quaker
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hypercompe scriboniaGiant Leopard Moth, Great Leopard Moth
- Hyppa xylinoidesCommon Hyppa
- Idaea furciferataNotch-Winged Wave
- Idaea obfusariaRippled Wave
- Lacanobia subjunctaSpeckled Arches, Subdues Arches, Harnessed Mamestra, Speckled Cutworm Moth, Grand Arches?(incorrectly)
- Lacinipolia implicataImplicit Arches
- Lacinipolia laudabilisLaudable Arches, Laudable Mamestra
- Lacinipolia loreaBridled Arches, Bridle Groundcat
- Lacinipolia lustralisLustral "Mamestra"
- Lacinipolia meditataThe Thinker
- Lacinipolia olivaceaOlive Arches, Olive Groundcat
- Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
- Leuconycta lepidulaMarble-Green Jaspidia, Marble-Green Leuconycta
- Manduca quinquemaculatusFive-Spotted Hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthodes cynicaCynical Quaker, Cynical Groundcat
- Orthodes detractaDisparaged Arches, Disparaged Groundcat
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Pagara simplexMouse-Colored Lichen Moth
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Phalaenostola metonalisPale Epidelta, Pale Phalaenostola
- Phlogophora irisOlive Angle Shades
- Protolampra brunneicollisBrown-Collared Dart
- Proxenus mirandaMiranda Moth, Glistening Rustic
- Pseudohermonassa bicarneaPink-Spotted Dart
- Pseudorthodes vecorsSmall Brown Quaker, Small Brown Groundcat
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Scopula cacuminariaFrosted Tan Wave
- Scopula limboundataLarge Lace-Border
- Sideridis roseaThe Rosewing
- Spilosoma congruaAgreeable Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma latipennisPink-Legged Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Tricholita signataSignate Quaker, Signate Groundcat
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Trichopolia oviducaRuddy Quaker
- Virbia aurantiacaOrange Virbia, Orange Holomelina
- Virbia ferruginosaRusty Holomelina, Rusty Virbia
- Virbia laetaJoyful Virbia, Joyful Holomelina
- Virbia opellaTawny Virbia, Tawny Holomelina
- Xanthorhoe ferrugataRed Twin-Spot, Twin-Spot Carpet
- Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Xylena curvimaculaDot-and-Dash Swordgrass Moth
5Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Taraxacum
- Andrena chromotricha
- Andrena krigiana
- Colletes rufocinctus
- Protandrena aestivalis
- Protandrena piercei
12BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Taraxacum
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Branta canadensisCanada Goose
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
Show all 12
- Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- ASTERACEAE
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

