Species

Hieracium murorum

Etymology

Hieracium: From the Greek hierax 'hawk'. Pliny the Elder (AD 23 - AD 79) believed the plant to be eaten by hawks to improve their eyesight.

Common Name(s)

hawkweed

Authority

Hieracium murorum L.

Family

Asteraceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

HIEMUR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs - Composites

Habitat

Terrestrial. Exotic forest, streamside cliffs, roadsides (Webb et al 1988).

Features

Perennial herb with rosette leaves 20-50 cm tall. The rosette leaves are truncate based, toothed, especially at the base 4-12 by 2-5 cm. Stem leaves 1-(2) similar to basal but shorter and more coarsely toothed. Yellow flowers in clusters of 5-15 on flowering stalks.

Similar Taxa

H. murorum is similar to H. lepidulum and H. pollichiae, but can be distinguished by the spreading to recurved basal leaf teeth, the solitary stem leaf, the absence of stellate hairs on the leaves, the curved peduncles in subdichotomous cymose inflorescences and the absence of simple eglandular hairs on peduncles and unvolucral bracts. It can be distinguished from Pilosella argillaceum group, which also has densely glandular unvolucral bracts, by its truncate leaf bases, solitary stem leaf, and absence of stellate leaf hairs.

Flowering

January, February, March

Flower Colours

Yellow

Fruiting

January - March

Year Naturalised

1940

Origin

Europe

Reason for Introduction

Accidental.

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Perennial.

This page last updated on 18 Mar 2016