Lesser Hawk’s-beard
Scientific Name: Crepis neglecta L.
Family: Asteraceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and Size: An annual herbaceous plant, 25-50 cm tall.
Stem: Basally branched stems, spiny below and more or less glabrous above.
Leaves: Basal leaves gathered in a rosette, with entire, dentate, or pinnately lobed blades with spatulate bases, measuring 1.2 x 4-7 cm. The upper leaves are smaller, with ± linear blades with acute, triangular, and fringed basal teeth.
Flowers: Inflorescences composed of numerous capitula of 6-8 mm, which before flowering are turned downwards, with a hairy receptacle with a cylindrical then pear-shaped involucre, covered by 2 series of scales, the outer ones much shorter than the inner ones. The small ligulate flowers are yellowish-canary in color. Blooms from March to July.
Fruits and Seeds: The fruits are achenes with 10 smooth ribs, the outer ones curved and often with a short beak, all with a pappus of white hairs.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Present throughout Italy except for Sardinia, Piedmont, and Aosta Valley. It grows in uncultivated areas at roadside edges, among rubble, from sea level up to 600 m.
Photo: Under a free CC BY-SA 4.0 license, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, author Andrea Moro.
