Britannica Sources used in this answer

What kinds of flowers make up a dandelion’s ligulate flower head?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Sunflower — Asteraceae The flowering head of a sunflower (*Helianthus annuus*) is formed of yellow, petal-like ray flowers and a brown center of minute disk flowers.

A dandelion’s ligulate flower head consists entirely of one specific type of flower: the ligulate flower.1

Unlike the flower heads of many other members of the Asteraceae family, which may contain a mix of disk and ray flowers, ligulate heads are composed exclusively of these uniform, perfect (bisexual) florets. Each ligulate flower features a corolla that is tubular at the base and extends into a flat, strap-shaped ligule, which is formed by all five lobes of the corolla and typically displays five terminal teeth.1