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false dandelion, hairy cat's-ear, rough cat's-ear

Habit Perennials, 10–60 cm; taproots vertical, thick, fibrous, caudices woody.
Stems

(1–15) erect, usually branched (2–3 times at midstem and distally, sparsely bracteate or naked), glabrous or coarsely hirsute proximally.

Leaves

all basal;

blades oblanceolate, lyrate to slightly runcinate, 50-–350 × 5–30 mm, margins coarsely dentate to pinnatifid, faces ± hirsute (hairs coarse, spreading).

Involucres

cylindric or campanulate, 10–25 × 10–20 mm.

Florets

10–15 mm, surpassing phyllaries at flowering;

corollas bright yellow or grayish green.

Phyllaries

20–30, narrowly lanceolate, 3–20 mm, unequal, margins scarious, green to darkened, faces glabrous or sparsely hirsute medially.

Heads

usually 2–7 in loose arrays, sometimes borne singly.

Cypselae

monomorphic, all beaked, beaks 3–5 mm;

bodies golden brown, fusiform, 6–10 mm, ribs 10–12, muricate;

pappi of whitish bristles in 2 series, outer barbellate, shorter than plumose inner, longest 10–12 mm.

2n

= 8.

Hypochaeris radicata

Phenology Flowering Apr–Nov.
Habitat Oak-pine forest, coastal prairie, dunes, waste ground, dry fields, roadside ditches, railroads, lawns
Elevation 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DE; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; LB; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Hypochaeris radicata is recognized by the coarse, perennial habit, stout roots, coarsely hirsute leaves and phyllaries, yellow corollas, and monomorphic, beaked cypselae. It is weedy and invasive in some areas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 299.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cichorieae > Hypochaeris
Sibling taxa
H. chillensis, H. glabra, H. microcephala
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 811. (1753)
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