Crepis capillaris

Hawksbeard

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Hawksbeard is a naturalized annual found in northwestern California, the California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, central coastal California, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern coastal California in disturbed places and pastures at elevations below 1,300 meters. Flowering from May to November, this plant produces yellow flowers in compact clusters of 10 to 15 heads. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 10 to 90 centimeters tall, it has short hairs primarily on the lower stem sections. Its leaves are oblanceolate, pinnately divided with remote, unequal lanceolate lobes that can reach 5 to 30 centimeters long. The fruit is a small brown-yellow seed with white, fluffy bristles that help wind dispersal.

Habitat: Weed in pastures, disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Nov

Elevation: < 1300 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n&ampc SN, CCo, SnFrB, SCo

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