On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 06:29:58 -0600, "Hound Dog"
wrote:

A neighbor asked me a question about dandelions and I have not been able to
find the answer for him.

If one simply cuts the flowering heads from dandelions and allows the
flowers to just stay on the ground where they fall, will the dying flowers
be able to finish the seeding process and produce new plants.

If anyone can give me a definitive answer to this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Hound Dog


If it was still open and yellow.. flowering.. no. It won't go on and
make seed. If you cut off one that had closed because it was
fertilized and it was very close to ripening, close to reopening and
there was enough "sap" in the flower head and stem for it to finish
up, as the flower head dries, it will open up and release the fluff
tops of the seed if it had already formed. If the seed was already
formed, and basically just had to harden the seed coat and dry up the
fluff.. yup, it'll go ahead and dry and release the seed.

So the answer is.. It depends. ;-)

It depends on how close the seed was to finishing the maturation
process when its connection to the mother plant was severed.

Janice