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• Dichotomous Key
• Asteraceae
• Asteraceae Group 1
• Hieracium
• Hieracium flagellare

Hieracium flagellare — whip hawkweed

Facts

Whip hawkweed is introduced from Europe, mainly into the Northeast, where it is found in fields, roadsides and lawns. It has long, thick, hairy, leaf-bearing stolons.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  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

  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
  • each flowering stem has only one to three 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 profile

  the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  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

  9–13 mm

  Inflorescence shape

  • the flower heads grow in clusters from the axils of the branches or leaves
  • the inflorescence is not flat-topped but appears rounded, with some flower heads distinctly higher than others

  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 profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ray flower color

  • orange
  • pink to red
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  more than 50

  Ray length

  6–10 mm

  Reproductive system

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.2–2.2 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  • the pappus hairs are tan to dark brown
  • the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  4.5–7 mm

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  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 clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Horizontal rooting stem

  there are stolons on some plants

  Plant lifespan

  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

  • the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)
  • 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

  the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  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

  Leaf blade hairs

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

  Leaf blade length

  20–130 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 spatulate (spoon-shaped; narrow near the base, then suddenly widening to a rounded tip)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is rounded, with no point

  Leaf blade width

  8–25 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 type

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

  Specific leaf type

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

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  the flowering stem has no leaves above the base

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair length

  At least 2 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  at least some of the hairs on the stem have glands

  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