Crepis runcinata

Fiddleleaf hawksbeard

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Fiddleleaf hawksbeard is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial herb found in rocky, open habitats across various bioregions at elevations adaptable to different montane and subalpine environments. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces pale yellow flowers in small clusters with 20 to 50 individual blooms forming compact, flat-topped heads. Growing with branched stems 25 to 80 centimeters tall, it emerges from a long woody taproot with a distinctive swollen caudex. Its leaves are primarily basal, oblanceolate to elliptic, measuring 7 to 27 centimeters long with deeply toothed or occasionally pinnately lobed edges, appearing glabrous or lightly hairy. The fruit develops as a pale yellow to brown fusiform structure 3.5 to 7.5 millimeters long, crowned with a white pappus and featuring 10 to 13 prominent ribs.

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