Memoranda Soc. Soc. Fauna Fauna Flora Flora Fennica Fennica 89, 89: 2013 139–182. • Räsänen 2013 139 A review of Taraxacum (Asteraceae) in eastern Finland (Ladoga Karelia and North Karelia) Juhani Räsänen Räsänen, J., Pajutie 1 B 4, Linnunlahti, FI-80110 Joensuu, Finland. E-mail:
[email protected] Little is known about changes in the abundance and species composition of dandelions (Taraxa- cum) in Finland. However, Eastern Finland, the biogeographical provinces of Karelia ladogensis and Karelia borealis, has been explored again since 1985. Carl-Erik Sonck collected dandelions there mainly in the 1940s and published his results later (Sonch 1964a). The comparison revealed that changes were considerable over this 60-year period. Species of the section Taraxacum had become more frequent, while those of the sections Borea and Erythrosperma had declined. After Sonck, 88 species were found to be new to North Karelia and 24 to Ladoga Karelia. Respectively, 16 and 33 species were not re-discovered in these provinces. The figures are approximate, particu- larly concerning Karelia ladogensis, because a larger part of this province has not been studied since 1945 when most of its territory was ceded to the former Soviet Union. Introduction ish provinces of Karelia borealis, (Kb) and Ka- relia ladogensis (Kl/Fin). In addition to histor- Earlier information on the dandelions of east- ical records, I present my own observations on ern Finland is from a few areas only. The vicini- the less frequent species. Data from neighbour- ty of Lieksa (Karelia borealis) is the best studied, ing provines Sa, Sb and Ok (Fig. 1) is given also.