Crepis vesicaria
Crepis vesicaria is a European species of flowering plant in the daisy family with the common name beaked hawk's-beard. It is native to the Western and Southern Europe from Ireland and Portugal east as far as Germany, Austria, and Greece. It became naturalized in scattered locations in North America.
Crepis vesicaria is an annual, biennial, or perennial herb up to 120 cm tall, producing a large underground caudex. Each plant can have as many as 20 flower heads, each with up to 70 ray florets but no disc florets. It grows on hillsides and in sandy clearings.
A prominent plant, Crepis vesicaria stands erect, with many branches, each ending in its own dandelion-like flower.
The underside of the flower has two layers of leaf-like phyllaries. The inner layer is longer and pointed, and often curls back away from the rest of the flower head. The outer layer is substantially shorter.Subspecies include:
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. andryaloides Babc.
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. bivonana Giardina & Raimondo
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. hyemalis Babc.
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. myriocephala Babc.
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. stellata Babc.
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia Thell.
- Crepis vesicaria subsp. vesicaria
