Smooth hawksbeard |
Flower
heads,
involucre, basal leaves and stem leaf of the
smooth
hawksbeard
| Crepis capillaris (L.) Wallr.: | |
| Blooming period: | June–Oktober |
| Height: | 20–100 cm |
| Flowers: | in heads, Ø of the heads 10–15 mm, rarely up to 30 mm, stamens: 5, styles: 1 |
| Ray florets: | golden yellow |
| Disc florets: | missing |
| Calyx: | transformed into a pappus |
| Stem leaves: | arrow or pike shaped, sessile, alternate, lanceolate, pinnatifid at base |
| Basal leaves: | stalked, ovate-lanceolate, dentate to runcinate |
Plant annual to biennial, herbaceous, lactiferous, with a short taproot.
Stem erect to prostrate, striped green, at least hispid at base, branched.
Basal leaves rosulate, lanceolate, petiolate, lobed, divided, dentate or runcinate. Stem leaves lanceolate, sessile, amplexicaul with slotted auricles, pinnatifid at the base.
Flower heads usually 10–15 in corymbose inflorescences. The receptacle is flat, glabrous and pitted.
The green phyllaries are covered slightly with woolly hairs and / or with stalked glandular hairs and are arranged in 2 rows. The outer ones (about 8) are linear, about half as long as the inner ones and lying close to those. The inner phyllaries (8–16) are linear and more or less pointed. Involucre cylindrical.
The flower head consists exclusively of 20–60 golden yellow ray florets which are hermaphrodite, about 10 mm long and 5-dentate. They have yellow anthers and yellow to greenish styles. Ligules underneath often fitted with a red stripe. Florets at the base without chaffy leaves.
After pollination by bees or hoverflies the inferior ovary forms an 1.5–2.5 mm long nut fruit (achene) with 10 ribs, which is spindle-shaped, brown-yellow. At the apex it has a double-row pappus consisting of fine, white, soft, 3–4 mm long hair-like bristles. Plants diversiform!
| Floral formula: |
| ↓ K=pappus [C(5) A5(connate)] G(2) inferior |
Occurrence:
On roadsides, in meadows and pastures, ruderal areas, fellow land. Prefers slightly warm and slightly humid locations.
Distribution:
Originally Europe, introduced in Asia, Africa, Australia and North and South America.