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• Crepis vesicaria

Crepis vesicaria — beaked hawk's-beard

Facts

Beaked hawk's-beard is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, and is occasional in North America. It has been recorded from Connecticut. The underside of the rays are red in this species, and the achenes have a slender beak.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

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

  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 margins

  there are fine hairs along the bract margins

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with hairs having glands (a swelling at the tip of the hair)

  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)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract tip color

  • the tips are a different color from the center of the bract
  • the tips are the same color as the center of the bract

  Bract tip orientation

  the tips of the bracts curve outwards and downwards from the plant

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are obtuse (have a blunt 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

  8–11 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  5–16

  Ovary beak

  • there is a beak on the ovary
  • 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

  Ovary surface

  • the ovary surface has no points, bumps or wrinkles, though it may have lines, ribs or wings
  • the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  • pink to red
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  • 26-50
  • more than 50

  Ray length

  6–15 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

  4–6 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary beak length

  2–5 mm

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  4–9 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

  3–6 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

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • 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

  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 hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  70–200 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  30–50 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

  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

  • the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae