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• Picris hieracioides

Picris hieracioides — hawkweed oxtongue

Facts

Hawkweed oxtongue is native to Europe and Asia, and invasive in Africa, Australia and North America. It is listed as a State Noxious Weed in the State of Washington, and is found in disturbed areas in New England.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  • there are two main cycles of bracts
  • there is one main cycle of bracts

  Bract keels

  the bracts do not have keels

  Bract margins

  there are few or no fine hairs along the bract margins

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  at least some flower heads have bracts connected to one another at or near their bases

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)

  Bract spines

  the bracts are prickly on the outer side

  Bract tip color

  the tips are the same color as the center of the bract

  Bract tip extension appearance

  NA

  Bract tip extension edge

  NA

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are acuminate (tapered to a narrow point)

  Bract width

  0.5–3

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  NA

  Disk flower number

  NA

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  8–15 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Inflorescence stem

  hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence

  Ovary beak

  there is no beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  • there are four to six lines or ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are seven to nine ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are ten or more ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  • 26-50
  • more than 50

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are not swollen, or only slightly

  Width of flower head base

  10–16 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3–6 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs have smaller hairs along their sides

  Seed hair tuft tips

  at least some of the pappus hairs are broader at their tips than their bases

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit
  • the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  • there are only slender roots on the plant
  • there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  50–300 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  10–50 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  NA

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  at least some of the hairs on the stem are branched

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae