Hieracium

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Read about Hieracium in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Hieracium (Greek, a hawk; it is said the ancients thought that hawks sharpened their eyesight by using the sap of these plants). Composite (Cichoriaceae). Hawk-weeds. Hardy herbaceous perennials, some of which arc bad weeds in the eastern states. Leaves often toothed, but never deeply lobed: heads usually small, loosely paniculate or cymose, rarely solitary; receptacle flat, usually quite naked; rays truncate, 5-toothed at the apex; anthers sagittate at the base; style-branches slender: seeds angular.—Over 400 species mostly native to Eu. and S. Amer. The genus passes into Crepis, from which it is distinguished by having stiff, usually brownish, rarely white pappus, and oblong or columnar seeds.The cultivated species bear in summer and autumn a succession of small yellow or orange-colored flowers. There is one white-flowered species, H. nivole. They are often worth growing in rockeries and waste places, but care should be taken to prevent them from crowding out more desirable plants. In some parts of the East H. aurantiacum has become one of the worst weeds ever introduced into America. It is magnificently colored, and makes very attractive patches. H. villosum, is the most desirable species. Hawkweeds will grow in almost any soil or aspect. They are propagated chiefly by dividing the stolons, or by seeds, and if left to themselves will soon form a dense mat of herbage over the poorest of soils. The Old World species are much confused. H. alpinum. Linn. Lvs. oblong or lanceolate, slightly toothed: fl.-sts. about 6 in. high, bearing 1-3 small, narrow Ivs. and a single rather large head of bright yellow fls. Mountains of N. Eu. and Asia and the higher ranges of Cent, and 8. Eu.—H. bornmuelleri, Freyn. Resembling H. villosum but lvs. thicker and more woolly, and fl.-heads larger and brighter yellow. Asia Minor.—H. marginatum, Froel. A glaucous erect perennial, the leafy branches' widely spreading: lvs. linear-lanceolate, fit.-clasping at the base, the margins toothed and the under aide reticulated: peduncles quite naked. Habitat(7). Little known in U. S. S. W. Fletcher. N. Taylor. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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