CONFUSED HAWKWEED

Hieracium britannicoides

Daisy & Dandelion Family [Asteraceae]

month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july

status
statusZnative
flower
flower8yellow
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZMany
stem
stem8round
rarity
rarityZrare

26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
A perennial flower, branched, with a single flower at the tip of each branch.


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
Has leaves only at the base of the plant. There are usually between 2 to 7 flowers (sometimes up to 28) on flower stalks between 15mm to 60mm long.


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
The stem is 30 to 50cm (max 60cm) long and a pale yellowish-green, sometimes purple-flushed as here on the right. The stem hairs are a mixture of simple non-glandular hairs with sometimes with short, dark glandular hairs. Sometimes there are a few stellate (branched) hairs in the upper part of the stem.


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
The flowerhead is rounded at the base. The bracts are linear-lanceolate, 8 to 12mm long and 1.0 to 1.5mm wide, greenish-black, the inner bracts having paler margins. They have a long taper ending either ending abruptly or with a point at the end. The bracts have either short or long, pale non-glandular hairs which have a dark 'root' mixed in with short, dark glandular hairs. The hairs on the margins of the bracts are numerous and stellate (have a few 'umbrella spokes' at the top).


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
The flower head is between 30 to 40mm across with concolorous yellow styles. The plant is Apomictic like most Hieracium species.


26th June 2019, flanks of Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
Leaves frayed at the edges? I'm afraid so.
The leaves are a bit floppy (if it were not for all the extra gubbins in this small space), glaucous-green on the upper surface, glaucous paler underneath (although it is hard to tell which are the upper and lower surfaces here...). The leaves are sometimes suffused with a purple tint and sometimes spotted. Leaf shape is elliptical or nearly round. At the apex they are either rounded or bluntly acute. The edges dense with simple non-glandular curly hairs.


Easily mistaken for : many other of the >450 Hawkweeds (Hieracium species)

It is a native Apomictic plant which inhabits rocks, quarries, cliff ledges, rubble and even grassy banks. It is the most abundant Hawkweed in the Derbyshire and Staffordshire limestone dales in early summer! Also found on the Great Orme, North Wales.

Not to be semantically confused with: British Hawkweed (Hieracium britannicum). In fact, this newly named Confused Hawkweed found in Llandudno was formerly named British Hawkweed but was found to be sufficiently different to be given a species name of its own.


  Hieracium britannicoides  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Asteraceae  

Distribution
 family8Daisy & Dandelion family8Asteraceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Hieracium
Hieracium
(Hawkweeds)

CONFUSED HAWKWEED

Hieracium britannicoides

Daisy & Dandelion Family [Asteraceae]