Taraxacum (family Compositae) A genus of herbs, many of which contain latex. T. officinale (dandelion) is a cosmopolitan weed. Some species are cultivated as ornamentals or salad plants, and in Russia rubber is obtained from the latex of T. bicorne. There are 60 species but they are apomictic, so there are hundreds of microspecies. They occur in northern temperate regions and temperate S. America.

taraxacum (drug prepared from) dandelion. XVIII. — medL. — Arab. ṭar(a)ḵšaḳūḳ — Pers. talḵchakūk ‘bitter herb’.