Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Hawksbeard is a naturalized perennial herb found in sandy clearings, hillsides, and disturbed places in the northern Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern California at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from February to October, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with reddish undersides in loose clusters of 10 to 20 heads. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall that are much-branched and short-hairy, it emerges from a swollen, woody caudex. Its leaves range 10 to 35 centimeters long, oblanceolate to ovate with pinnate lobes, featuring a large toothed terminal lobe and recurved lateral lobes. The fruit is pale brown to yellow, 4 to 9 millimeters long, with some developing a distinct beak 2 to 5 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Sandy clearings, hillsides, disturbed places

Bloom period: Feb-Oct

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, 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.