Krigia virginica (L.) Willd.
Dwarf dandelion, Virginia dwarfdandelion
Dwarf dandelion is native New England.
Plants: Plants resemble miniature dandelions. They have a basal rosette of leaves up to 6″ (15 cm) around, and yellow flowers on bare stems a few inches in height. They prefer dry, sandy soil.
Leaves: Leaves are light green and oblanceolate—that is, long and narrow, but widening toward the far end. They are also pinnatifid, lobed like very coarse irregular saw teeth along the sides. Leaves and stems exude a white latex when broken.
Flowers: Flowering stalks are slender, hairless (except near the top), and leafless. Flowers are yellow, ⅛–⅜″ (6–12 mm) in diameter, with may ray florets, each tipped by 5 teeth. At the base of each flowerhead are 9-18 bracts. Flowers appear from April to August.
Fruits: Flowers are replaced by a ball of pappi. Each pappus consists of an achene, and a small number of hairs. Like those on dandelions, the seeds are picked up by the wind and distributed.
Habitats: Anthropogenic habitats, cliffs, balds, or ledges, meadows and fields, woodlands.
Online References:
Hyoseris virginica L.
5/23/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3″ (9.2 × 8.3 cm) 
5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 9″ (27 × 23 cm) 
5/13/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Groton, Massachusetts 
9/18/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 1 × 1′ (38 × 38 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
5/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (9.7 × 8.9 cm) 
9/18/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 1¼ × 1¼″ (3.7 × 3.4 cm) ID is uncertain 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Asterales | Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies |
| Family | Asteraceae | The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers |
| Genus | Krigia | Named for German physician David Krieg, who first collected this plant in Maryland |
| Species | virginica | “Of or from Virginia” |
Krigia virginica description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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