Yellow Hawkweed, Canada Hawkweed, Hieracium kalmii L. var. fasciculatum [Hieracium canadense], Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

(Yellow Hawkweed). The canadense variety of Canada Hawkweed (or Yellow Hawkweed if you prefer) has very limited range and is frequently treated as a subspecies of H. umbellatum. See the "names" section below for details. The descriptive information presented here follows the treatment given by Flora of North America. Stem: Canada Hawkweed is an erect native perennial growing to 5' in height on stems that are smooth and unbranched below the inflorescence. Within the inflorescence the stem is green to greenish-red and is rough. Stems contain a milky juice. The leaves are alternate and located on the stem below the inflorescence. They are lanceolate to elliptical, stalkless; tips are pointed. The margins usually have small sharply pointed teeth, but irregularly spaced , sometimes giving the appearance of small lobes. The upper surface is a greenish gray, smooth, while the lower surface can be hairy. Leaf edges do not have hair. The inflorescence is composed of multiple loose branched clusters of stalked flower heads, mostly flat-topped, in which only one or two are open at a time and the more mature heads are positioned slightly below the immature heads. Each yellow flower head is about 1 inch wide, has 30+ florets with yellow corollas. The ray tips are truncated with 5 teeth. The outside of the flower head has a series of floral bractlets that form the calyx of the head. These integrate with the normal linear shaped phyllaries which have somewhat pointed tips. Seed: Mature flowers produce a dry achene of columnar shape, 2.5 to 3.5mm long with the pappus being bristle like hair for wind dispersion.

Habitat: Canada Hawkweed and related species grow in dry areas of woods, thickets, prairies, in more sandy type soils with mesic to dry moisture conditions, in full sun. Names: The genus name is from the old Greek "hierakion" meaning 'hawk'. According to Pliny the Elder, hawks fed on the plant to improve their eyesight and from that comes the common name of Hawkweed. As referenced above as to classification, there have been numerous species delineated in the Hieracium genus over the years - 9,000 by one count. Many authorities, such as Flora of North America, believe there is no justification for such since Hieracium reproduces from asexually produced seeds, which perpetuates populational and regional variants. Thus many of these variants should be consolidated and H. canadense, H. kalmii and others have been treated as one of the synonyms for H. umbellatum.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Canada Hawkweed	Hieracium canadense var. canadense Michx.	Aster (Asteraceae)	Upland	Late Summer to Autumn
Other names and notes	(Yellow Hawkweed). The canadense variety of Canada Hawkweed (or Yellow Hawkweed if you prefer) has very limited range and is frequently treated as a subspecies of H. umbellatum. See the "names" section below for details. The descriptive information presented here follows the treatment given by Flora of North America. Stem: Canada Hawkweed is an erect native perennial growing to 5' in height on stems that are smooth and unbranched below the inflorescence. Within the inflorescence the stem is green to greenish-red and is rough. Stems contain a milky juice. The leaves are alternate and located on the stem below the inflorescence. They are lanceolate to elliptical, stalkless; tips are pointed. The margins usually have small sharply pointed teeth, but irregularly spaced , sometimes giving the appearance of small lobes. The upper surface is a greenish gray, smooth, while the lower surface can be hairy. Leaf edges do not have hair. The inflorescence is composed of multiple loose branched clusters of stalked flower heads, mostly flat-topped, in which only one or two are open at a time and the more mature heads are positioned slightly below the immature heads. Each yellow flower head is about 1 inch wide, has 30+ florets with yellow corollas. The ray tips are truncated with 5 teeth. The outside of the flower head has a series of floral bractlets that form the calyx of the head. These integrate with the normal linear shaped phyllaries which have somewhat pointed tips. Seed: Mature flowers produce a dry achene of columnar shape, 2.5 to 3.5mm long with the pappus being bristle like hair for wind dispersion. Habitat: Canada Hawkweed and related species grow in dry areas of woods, thickets, prairies, in more sandy type soils with mesic to dry moisture conditions, in full sun. Names: The genus name is from the old Greek "hierakion" meaning 'hawk'. According to Pliny the Elder, hawks fed on the plant to improve their eyesight and from that comes the common name of Hawkweed. As referenced above as to classification, there have been numerous species delineated in the Hieracium genus over the years - 9,000 by one count. Many authorities, such as Flora of North America, believe there is no justification for such since Hieracium reproduces from asexually produced seeds, which perpetuates populational and regional variants. Thus many of these variants should be consolidated and H. canadense, H. kalmii and others have been treated as one of the synonyms for H. umbellatum.