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• Crepis tectorum

Crepis tectorum — narrow-leaved hawk's-beard

Facts

Narrow-leaved hawk's-beard is an invasive from Europe, widely distributed across northern North America, and considered a serious weed in some states. This annual is recognized by its narrow leaves with the margins rolled under, and its red to purple-brown achenes.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract keels

  there is one distinct keel on the bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with curled, tangled, matted, or woolly hairs
  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with hairs having glands (a swelling at the tip of the hair)
  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  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 have no spines

  Bract tip color

  the tips are a different color from the center of the bract

  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)

  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

  0

  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

  6–9 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  • the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile
  • the inflorescence is not flat-topped but appears rounded, with some flower heads distinctly higher than others

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  5–18

  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 hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands
  • the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  • the ovary has hairs on it
  • the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are ten or more ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  • 26-50
  • more than 50

  Ray length

  10–13 mm

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are not swollen, or only slightly

  Width of flower head base

  7–8 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  2.5–4.5 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  the pappus hairs are not attached to one another near the base

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  4–5 mm

  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 annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth
  • the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole and at the base it clasps the stem, or goes all the way around the stem so the stem appears to pierce the leaf

  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 lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade flatness

  the edges of the leaf are curled under

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade has hairs with glands at their tips
  • the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly
  • the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs

  Leaf blade length

  50–150 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • 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)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 40 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  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 tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

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

  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 tangled, matted or woolly

  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