Mouse-Ear Hawkweed

Hieracium pilosella

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Family: Asteraceae.

Form: Herb

Origin: Native of Europe and Asia.

Flowers/Seedhead: Heads yellow. Flowerhead on stalk with none to a few simple non-glandular hairs, a dense covering of star-shaped hairs and numerous short glandular hairs. Bracts around the base of flowerheads to 13 mm long, with varying numbers of simple and glandular hairs and a dense covering of star-shaped hairs. Flowers mostly spring to summer but some flowers present to the end of autumn.

Description: Perennial herb with flower stems to 40 cm high. Leaves basal or on stolons, broader above the middle, to 10 cm long, upper surface with scattered long coarse simple hairs, lower surface with fine non-glandular hairs and dense covering of star-shaped hairs.

Distinguishing features: Distinguished by stolons with long simple hairs and dense covering of short star-shaped hairs; leaves with margins entire to obscurely toothed; flowerheads solitary at the end of each leafless stalk; all small flowers (florets) strap-like, deeply 5-toothed, yellow, often with a red stripe on the outer face; seeds cylindrical, ribbed, about 2 mm long and about 0.5 mm wide, with a flattened apex, ribs ending at the apex in minute points, top of seed with pale brown bristles to 6 mm long in one row.

Dispersal: Spread by seed and stolons.