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• Hypochaeris radicata

Hypochaeris radicata — hairy cat's-ear

Facts

Hairy cat's-ear is a non-native perennial weed from Eurasia, and somewhat invasive in North America. The genus is distinguished by having fruits that differ depending on where they occur on the flower head. Those on the inner part of the flower head have a narrow beak (stalk) between the seed and the pappus (tuft of branching hairs that aid in wind dispersal), while those on the outer edge lack a beak.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  NA

  Disk flower number

  0

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head profile

  the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  • NA
  • the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  10–25 mm

  Ovary beak

  there is a beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  • green to brown
  • yellow

  Ray flowers

  • 11-15
  • 6-10

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Width of flower head base

  5–20 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  8–17 mm

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs have smaller hairs along their sides

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  • the plant has a caudex (the root mass is firm and hardened at the top)
  • there are only slender roots on the plant
  • there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Leaf arrangement

  basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade length

  50–350 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • NA
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade width

  5–30 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  the flowering stem has no leaves above the base

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae