Plant help needed

[urbpan]

There's a dyc (damned yellow composite, if you forgot) that is growing in dozens of locations (mostly roadsides) all around where I live. I'm fairly certain it's in the genus Hieracium. (All the plant people just sputtered out a humorless laugh. There may be anywhere between 200 to more than a thousand species in this very troublesome genus.) It is not hairy, like most hawkweeds. It has leaves all along the stem, more than half the way to the flowers--it looks like most hawkweeds have rosettes only, or just a few leaves up the stem.

Do I have a chance of identifying this thing to species?



My best guess is H. paniculatum, but I don't trust that, since that's a native species, and this thing is behaving like an alien invasive.

Comments

[nutmeg.livejournal.com]

What do you think about groundsel?

[nutmeg.livejournal.com]

Nevermind. I think the flowers are too showy for groundsel, but the leaves are very lobed/dentate for hieracium.

I wish I had my weed books at home.

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

i've just started seeing those here in the last year or two. i thought it was some sort of dandilion, as it kind of looks like it might be a second cousin, and i think they're petals dry up and pouf like dandilions.

entirely possible that your plant is different from what we have here, but it looks the same to me.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

I've never seen that. I'm in Ireland though so that not helpful! It's too tall to be Irish goundsel or hawkweed.

[g-weir.livejournal.com]

Whenever you describe a species as 'alien invasive', I worry that it is laying eggs in people's chests.

but that's my own issue, I suppose.

--G

[anais2.livejournal.com]

I'm ready for a closeup, Mr. DeMille....
Actually, it looks somewhat like a spurge variety from here...can you get a detail photo?

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i can get detail photos today - what, specifically do you need pictures of?

[anais2.livejournal.com]

Maybe one that shows leaf texture, stem shape?
Does this have milky sap, BTW?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I plucked a leaf off of it today, for the first time. To my surprise, the whole plant is slightly hairy. Not as hairy as orange hawkweed, but definitely hairy to the touch. Didn't see any white sap, but I wasn't looking.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i will check for all of those things and take pictures when i go out in a few!

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

ok, no milky sap, in fact it was very dry. so here's the pics i took, hopefully it'll help somewhat.


the way the flowers branch off the main stem.


a leaf


the stem and the way the leaves come off of it.

[anais2.livejournal.com]

Aha! That's old yellow hawkweed! Best I can do for a name, let the experts at it.

[anais2.livejournal.com]

Oops! I just looked at the flower, and made a pronouncement, and I'm wrong. Hawkweed doesn't have leafy stems.
But I'll bet it's in the same family; the flower is identical!

[anais2.livejournal.com]

Me again- I got started looking, and check out the Canada Hawkweed...
http://www.ontariowildflower.com/wildflower_waste2.htm#hawkweedcda

Numerous toothed leaves on stem; no basal rosette at flower time; leaves alternate. Looks like a good candidate!

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

yay!

[artemii.livejournal.com]

i agree, i think it is canada hawkweed.

sorry it took me a day to answer.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

also, a close-up of a flower cluster.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

ok, will do.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

ok, done and posted in another comment. :)

[godstatic.livejournal.com]

I think it's highly unlikely you'll ever narrow it down that far....maybe to two or three species. My horticulture professor has in the past been unable to identify proper a species of plant while taking us out on a walk, and even after extensive reading and study on the plant still failed to narrow it down to less than 5 species, and he's been doing this for forty years or more.

Nature is a tricky and strange mistress. :)