Hieracium floribundum Wimm. & Grab.
Pale hawkweed, smoothish hawkweed, yellow hawkweed, yellow devil hawkweed
Pale hawkweed is probably a hybrid of Hieracium caespitosum and H. lactucella. It apparently originated in Europe, and is now established in North America. This is considered an invasive in many locales.
Plants: 10–36″ (25–91 cm) tall, with a single stem that exudes a milky sap when broken. The stem has stiff hairs.
Leaves: Three to eight leaves are basal, lying almost flat, each 1–6″ (3–15 cm) long. The basal leaves are lanceolate to oblanceolate, with smooth or very slightly toothed margins. Leaf tips may be rounded or sharp. There may be up to two leaves on the stem. All the leaves have stiff hairs.
Flowers: Crowded clusters of 5 to 25 yellow flowers. Each flower has 25-50 florets ⅛–⅜″ (3–10 mm) long, with five teeth at the end of each floret. They bloom in June and July.
Fruits: Pappi, with white bristles, are ⅛–3/16″ (4–6 mm) long. The fruits (cypselae) are columnar, and about 1/32″ (1.5 mm) long.
Habitats: Fields, roadsides, disturbed soils.
Online References:
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 7″ (12 × 16 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 15 × 10″ (37 × 25 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (16 × 23 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 5″ (11 × 12 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 5″ (10 × 13 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 7″ (21 × 18 cm)
ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm)
ID is uncertain 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| 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 | floribundum | Having profuse flowers |
Hieracium floribundum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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