Smooth Hawksbeard

Foodplant / parasite
Albugo tragopogonis var. tragopogonis parasitises live Crepis capillaris

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Bremia lactucae parasitises live Crepis capillaris
Other: unusual host/prey

Foodplant / spot causer
embedded ustilospore of Entyloma crepidis-rubrae causes spots on live leaf (rosette) of Crepis capillaris
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Foodplant / parasite
Golovinomyces cichoracearum parasitises live Crepis capillaris

Foodplant / parasite
underground tuber of Orobanche minor var. compositarum parasitises root of Crepis capillaris
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Paroxyna producta feeds within capitulum of Crepis capillaris
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Foodplant / parasite
uredium of Puccinia crepidicola parasitises live stem of Crepis capillaris

Foodplant / spot causer
numerous, mostly epiphyllous pycnidium of Septoria coelomycetous anamorph of Septoria crepidis causes spots on fading leaf of Crepis capillaris
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Crepis capillaris is recognized by its shallow root system, dense rosettes of coarsely dentate or pinnately lobed leaves, erect slender stems, auriculate-based cauline leaves, relatively small heads, phyllaries with double rows of black setae, and fluffy white pappi. It is weedy and can become a serious lawn pest. It is one of only three species of Crepis with 2n = 6; E. B. Babcock (1947) considered it to be advanced in the genus.

Annuals or biennials, 10–90 cm (taproots shallow). Stems 1(–6+), erect to ± procumbent, usually simple (usually with single stout leader, sometimes multiple with slender laterals), hispid proxi-mally or throughout. Leaves: basal and cauline; petiolate (petiole bases clasping); blades lanceolate or ob-lanceolate, runcinate or lyrate, 5–30 × 1–4.5 cm, margins pinnately divided to sharply dentate (lobes remote, unequal), apices obtuse or acute, mucronate, faces glabrous or sparsely hispid (hairs yellow; proximal cauline auriculate and clasping). Heads 10–15(–30+), in corymbiform arrays. Calyculi of 8, linear, tomentulose or stipitate-glandular bractlets 2–4 mm. Involucres cylindric to turbinate, 5–8 × 3–6 mm. Phyllaries 8–16, lanceolate, 6–7 mm (margins scarious), apices acute, abaxial faces stipitate-glandular and glandular setose (setae black, usually in 2 rows), adaxial glabrous. Florets 20–60. corollas deep yellow (reddish abaxially), 8–12 mm (hairy). Cypselae brownish yellow, fusiform, 1.5–2.5 mm, apices narrowed (not beaked), ribs 10 (glabrous or scabrous); pappi white (fluffy), 3–4 mm (scarcely surpassing phyllaries). 2n = 6.

Lapsana capillaris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 812. 1753; Crepis cooperi A. Gray; C. virens Linnaeus

Crepis capillaris, the smooth hawksbeard, is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, and is native to Europe. It has become naturalized in other lands and is regarded as a weed in some places.

Crepis capillaris is a low, annual plant common in disturbed ground and open habitats, such as thin grassland, lawns, spoil heaps, rocky banks and on roadsides, the stems often trailing along the ground but sometimes erect, the leaves sometimes forming a rosette. It flowers from June to December: 298  in the Northern Hemisphere, producing an array of numerous small flower heads. Each head has as many as 60 yellow ray florets but no disc florets.