''Hieracium argutum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

known by the common name southern hawkweed. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it can be found in coastal and inland hills and mountains, often in oak woodland and pine forest habitat.

Description

''Hieracium argutum'' is a perennial herb producing a mostly erect stem which is very hairy on the lower part and becomes nearly hairless toward the tip. The plant grows 60 centimeters to one meter tall. The deeply toothed leaves are covered in long hairs. The largest leaves at the base of the stem may reach 16 centimeters. There may be shorter leaves on the lower part of the stem and there are few or none on the upper part. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a wide open array of many

flower heads A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

, each up to about a centimeter wide. The flower head is lined with hairy, often glandular

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one o ...

and filled with many yellow ray florets and no disc florets. The fruit is a small, dark cylindrical

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...

topped with a pappus of brown bristles.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentFlora of North America
argutum Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges {{Cichorieae-stub