Species

Hieracium lepidulum

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)

tussock hawkweed

Authority

Hieracium lepidulum (Stenstr.) Omang

Family

Asteraceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

HIELEP

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. Grassland, roadsides, riverbanks, riverbeds and gold tailings, beech forest, scrub, pine forest.

Features

A perennial herb with erect stems to 15-75 cm tall, having long hairs. Leaves dull green and slightly paler or purplish underneath; 3-15 cm long x 2-7 cm wide; mostly confined to based of stem. Leaves have dense hairs above and often underneath, where long hairs are also present. Flowers occur on straight and erect stems with 2 to 7 bright yellow flower heads per stem. Flowers are never striped, unlike some other hawkweeds. Mainly flowers from Dec-Mar. Fruits are small, dry and black, containing only one seed, the pappus (sheath crowning the seed) is 6-7 mm long and is coloured off-white.

Similar Taxa

H. lepidulum is very similar to H. pollichiae, but is easily recognised as its leaves are uniformly green rather than streaked with purple.

Flowering

December, January, February, March

Flower Colours

Yellow

Fruiting

(November) - December - March - (May)

Year Naturalised

1946

Origin

C. and N. Europe

Reason for Introduction

Accidental

Control Techniques

Perennial. Seed only, does not have stolons. Seed produced December to March. Seed is spread by wind, clothing and animal pelts.

Tolerances

Tolerates low rainfall and poor soils.

References and further reading

Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.

This page last updated on 18 Mar 2016