Agoseris aurantiaca aka Mountain Agoseris

Agoseris aurantiaca belongs to the aster family, Asteraceae. It is a perennial, so it lives for several years. Its common names include mountain dandelion and orange agoseris. False dandelion is another name. Kew puts its native range in the west-central United States. Plants For A Future gives a wider North American range. This takes in parts of Canada and the western United States. It spans northern Canada to Arizona and New Mexico. The plant grows in temperate lands, in meadows and woods. These sites lie at mid to high elevations.

The plant grows to about 2 feet [0.6 metres] tall. Its leaves hold a milky fluid called latex. Its dandelion kin have this too. It blooms from July to August. Each flower has both male and female organs. Insects carry pollen to the flowers. Seeds ripen from August to September. The sources give no clear facts about flower shape or fruit. They give no mature width or full account of the leaves.

Grow this plant in full sun, not shade. It likes sandy loam that drains well and has few nutrients. The soil can be dry or moist. It can be mildly acid, neutral, or mildly alkaline. A sunny edge of woods is one suggested garden site. The evidence gives no hardiness zone. It names no specific pest or disease concerns. Bear its taste for poor soil in mind when choosing a site.

You can eat the leaves raw or cooked. They taste like lettuce, with some of the bitterness of dandelions. Use tender leaves in salads, though their midveins may feel tough. These are the veins down the centre of each leaf. Cooking makes the leaves soft and less bitter. People have used root juice as chewing gum, too. Evidence for eating whole roots or flowers is weak. Do not treat these as proven food uses. Plants For A Future lists no known hazards. But it notes that safety facts are scarce. It records past use on wounds and swollen limbs. These uses were external, on the outside of the body. Such records do not prove that these treatments work.

Raise plants from seed, or divide them with care in spring. Sow seed in a greenhouse in spring. Seeds usually sprout in two to six weeks at 15°C. Move each seedling to its own pot when you can handle it. Plant them out in summer or late the next spring. When you divide plants, disturb the roots as little as possible. Keep the potted divisions under cover until they take hold.