Crepis capillaris – Smooth Hawksbeard

Smooth hawksbeard is another one of those yellow, dandelion type flowers that all look confusingly alike. The key to identifying this genus is to look at the sepal like bracts behind the flower and see if they form two distinct rows, the inner erect and the outer shorter and spreading. Smooth hawksbeard is a medium height annual to short-lived perennial with a branched stem and erect or sprawling habit. The attractive flowers borne on slender stalks are yellow with the outer florets often tinged red on the underside. Flowering occurs from June right through to early December.

Most smooth hawksbeards are annuals that germinate in the autumn, over winter as a rosette of leaves then flower in June and July. Seed is set in July and August and then some plants flower again in August and September. However, individuals and populations of perennial plants are commonly reported. Smooth hawksbeard is a native of rocky outcrops, sandy ground and steep banks subject to soil creep, properties that have allowed it to exploit a wide range of man-made habitats such as spoil heaps, road verges, railway cutting and other sites subject to a fair degree of disturbance. It is easily out competed in closed vegetation and is therefore quickly lost from sites left undisturbed.
Common and widespread throughout the British Isles.

Availability

This species is currently only available as a component of meadow mixture EM18