Crepis tectorum

Native to Asia and Europe. Introduced and naturalized in North America.

Dry. Fields, forest clearings, wooded slopes, dry stream beds, disturbed sites. Sandy soil.

June to October

Yellow

8″ to 40″

This is a 8″ to 40″ tall, erect, annual forb that rises on a single stem from a small, shallow taproot.

The stems are erect or ascending, slender, finely ridged, hollow, and few- to many-branched. They are sparsely to densely, but inconspicuously, covered with short, matted or tangled, soft, woolly hairs, at least near the base and just below the flower heads. They are sometimes rough to the touch due to an additional covering of firm, stiff hairs. There are often short, gland-tipped hairs near the branch tips. When broken the stem and leaves exude a milky juice.

Basal leaves are lance-shaped or inversely lance-shaped, 2″ to 6″ long, and ⅜″ to 1½″ wide. They are usually on short leaf stalks though occasionally they are stalkless. They are often irregularly pinnately lobed. When they, are the indentations (sinuses) are cut at least half way but not all the way to the midrib, and the lobes are sharply pointed with the points directed downwards. The upper surface is hairless. The lower surface is hairless or sparsely and inconspicuously covered with minute, curled, cobwebby hairs.

Lower stem leaves are similar, alternate, and stalkless, becoming smaller as they ascend the stem. The margins may be shallowly lobed, toothed, or neither. Upper stem leaves are nearly linear.

The inflorescence is a branched cluster (panicle) of several flower heads at the end of each stem and branch. There are usually 5 to 20 flower heads on the plant, though there may be 100 or more. The flower heads are on slender, hairy stalks.

The flower heads are about 1″ wide. At the base of the flower head there are 2 series of bracts. The inner series is a bell-shaped whorl (involucre) of 12 to 15 lance-shaped bracts. They are hairy on the outer surface and also minutely hairy on the inner surface, though this may not be visible without a hand lens. The outer series of about 12 bracts (calyculi) are awl-shaped, much shorter, and spreading to loosely ascending.

The corolla consists of 30 to 70 yellow, ⅜″ to ⅝″ long, ray florets that do not have any red on them.

The fruit is a dark reddish or purplish, spindle-shaped, 10-ribbed achene with a tuft of white, fine, soft hairs (pappus) attached. The ends are not beaked. The inner achenes are ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long and have smooth ribs. The outer achenes are 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ long and have minutely roughened ribs.