Meadow Hawkweed

Appearance

''Pilosella caespitosa'' is a creeping perennial with shallow, fibrous roots and long rhizomes.

The leaves, hairy on both sides, are up to 6 inches long, spathulate, and almost exclusively basal with the exception of 1 or 2 very small cauline leaves. The leaves lie flat to the ground, overlap, and will smother non-vigorous turf.

The stems are bristly and usually leafless, although occasionally a small leaf appears near the midpoint.
Stems, leaves, and bracts have dense, blackish hairs and exude milky juice when broken.

The 1/2 inch flower heads appear in tight clusters at the top of the 1 to 3 foot stems with 5 to 40 flowers per cluster. Corollas are all ligulate and bright yellow. Each single flower head is an inflorescence and each petal forms its own seed, making them each a separate flower or floret.

The seeds are shiny, black, and plumed. After maturing they are dispersed by wind, clothing, hair, feathers, and some vehicles that disturb fields or soils. ''P. caespitosa'' persists and regrows each year from rhizomes and often spreads by stolons, which can be extensive, creating a dense mat of hawkweed plants that practically eliminates other vegetation.

''P. caespitosa'' prefers silt loam, well-drained soil: coarse textures, moderately low in organic matter, and moist. Its presence can be an indicator of low soil fertility or slightly acidic soils.

''P. caespitosa'' has, in the past, been used for healing eyesight. Pliny the Elder had recorded information regarding how other species, specifically hawks, utilized ''P. caespitosa'', specifically believing that they would eat it in an effort to improve eyesight.

Distribution

Tolerant of drought and trampling, this species finds its habitat where the soil has been neglected. Places like roadsides, neglected residential and commercial landscapes, minimally maintained public parks and open spaces, vacant lots, rubble dump sites, and abandoned grasslands.

''P. caespitosa'' is an introduced species in North America and can be found in Canada and the United States. It is considered a noxious weed in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

''P. caespitosas native range includes a large portion of Europe, including Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Former Yugoslavia.