Crepis acuminata

Long leaved hawk's beard

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Long leaved hawk's beard is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, Transverse Ranges, and Great Basin in open rocky hillsides, ridges, and grassy flats at elevations of 1,000 to 3,300 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces pale yellow flowers in dense compound flat-topped clusters with 30 to 70 heads. Growing with 2 to 7 decimeter tall erect stems that are branched near the middle and covered in soft gray tomentose hair, it emerges from a deep woody taproot. Its distinctive leaves are large, 12 to 40 centimeters long, deeply pinnately lobed with narrow acute-triangular lobes, giving the plant a soft gray-green appearance. The fruit is 6 to 9 millimeters long, pale yellow-brown with 12 ribs and a white pappus.

Habitat: Open rocky hillsides, ridges, grassy flats

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1000-3300 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, Teh, TR, GB

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.