non-native, weeds
pictures taken in may & june
the dandelion is perhaps the quintessential weed; pretty much everybody knows them, and knows they're weeds.
i am pretty sure that we have both common dandelions (officinale) and red-seeded dandelions (laevigatum) - although i couldn't get pictures of both the puffs to compare the seeds to see if they're different colors. red-seeded dandelions have reddish seeds in their puffs, and common dandelions have more brownish seeds. the leaf shapes look right to me, though - red-seeded dandelions have the spikier leaves, and common dandelions have that curved scoop at the top of their leaves.
more than 20 kinds of butterfly enjoy dandelions! bees and other pollinators like them too, especially since dandelions bloom early in the spring when not many other food sources are out.
dandelions have a deep taproot which makes it inconvenient to pull out, and take advantage of their extremely delightful puffs to spread their seeds.
every part of a dandelion is edible! the flowers are used to make dandelion wine, the roots are made into dandelion tea, and the leaves are good as salad greens. it should be noted, though, that they're also often the target of herbicides and rendered unsafe for consumption as a result.
dandelions can be disruptive to crop farming, but are generally pretty harmless really. a lawn nuisance with many upsides!
dandelions bloom from early spring until early fall.