ASTERACEAE

Northern hawkweed – Hieracium umbellatum L.

In the Curonian Spit it grows on protected dune crest, on the big dunes, on lagoon coast and in dry meadows. It hasn’t become established in places where herbage is disturbed. You will usually see it growing in groups but quite seldom solitary. The stems are verdant. The bottom side of rigid leaves is covered with tomentum and the edge is turned down. Sometimes the whole plant is covered with thin tomentum. Its yellow flowers are concentrated in an inflorescence. The calathids are big, make up umbellate panicles. The fruit with winglets matures in fall and is scattered by coastal winds. The shape and the number of leaves, the tomentum and the other parts of the plant may differ greatly from plant to plant. Don’t be surprised if the northern hawkweed found in forest outskirts differs from the one growing in the dunes.

  20-100 cm      VII-IX     

Hieracium umbellatum L.

Hieracium umbellatum L.