Hieracium caespitosum (Field hawkweed)

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Hieracium caespitosum Dumort.

Field hawkweed, yellow hawkweed, meadow hawkweed, king devil, yellow paintbrush, devil’s paintbrush, yellow devil, yellow fox-and-cubs, yellow king-devil

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Hieracium	From Greek hierakion, “a hawk,” from Pliny’s belief that hawks strengthened their eyesight by eating these plants
Species	caespitosum	From caespes, “a turf, sod, or field”

About plant names...

Meadow hawkweed is a European native, apparently introduced to the United States in 1828 as an ornamental plant. It escaped and is now widespread.

Plants: Plants consist of a basal rosette with 3-8 or more leaves, and many tall, thin relatively bare flower stems 10-36" (25-91 cm) high. Stems, leaves, and stolons exude a milky latex when cut. Stems have dense hairs ¹/₃₂-⅛" (1-4 mm) long, softer toward the bottom, stiffer toward the top.

Leaves: The basal leaves are 2-10" (5-25 cm) long and ½-1¼" (1.3-3.2 cm) wide. They are variable in appearance, oblong lanceolate to elliptic in shape, with blunt or pointed tips, sometimes toothed.

Flowers: Each stem is topped with a flat-topped or umbrella-shaped cluster of 5-30 yellow flowers. Flowers appear from May to August, and are ½-1" (1.3-2.5 cm) across.

Fruits: Shiny, black, and plumed: equipped with individual feathery awns or bristles that depend on the wind to carry them to new locations.

Online References:

Michiganflora.net

The University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

Minnesota Wildflowers

The Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Plants.ces.ncsu.edu

The USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

EFloras

5/24/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 4 × 3½" (10 × 9.2 cm) ID is uncertain

5/24/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 4½ × 5" (11 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

6/3/2018 · Mt. Watatic, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 7 × 6" (18 × 16 cm)

8/27/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 6 × 4" (16 × 10 cm)

8/20/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 4½ × 6" (11 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

8/27/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 3 × 2½" (7.8 × 6.5 cm)

6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

6/21/2017 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

6/3/2018 · Mt. Watatic, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

5/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 2½" (9.5 × 7.2 cm) ID is uncertain

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm) ID is uncertain

6/3/2018 · Mt. Watatic, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 3" (9.7 × 7.6 cm)

6/10/2021 · Otter Brook Preserve, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 3 × 2½" (7.9 × 6.9 cm)

Hieracium pratense Tausch

Hieracium caespitosum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 26 Jul 2023.

6/3/2018 · Mt. Watatic, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 4 × 2½" (10 × 7.2 cm)

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 10 × 15" (26 × 39 cm) ID is uncertain

6/21/2017 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 2½" (9.8 × 7.3 cm)

5/24/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 14 × 9" (35 × 23 cm) ID is uncertain

6/2/2010 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 6 × 6" (14 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
≈ 3 × 4½" (7.9 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

8/27/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 3½ × 5" (8.7 × 12 cm)

6/5/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 4 × 4" (10 × 10 cm) ID is uncertain

6/21/2017 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts
≈ 2½ × 2½" (6.6 × 6.8 cm)

6/3/2018 · Mt. Watatic, Ashby
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 2½' (1.2 × 0.8 m) ID is uncertain

5/24/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 13 × 18" (33 × 46 cm) ID is uncertain

8/20/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 8 × 9" (20 × 22 cm) ID is uncertain

9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
≈ 4½ × 3" (11 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

About this map...