Asteraceae

Crepis acuminata

Longleaf Hawksbeard

Stems erect, with milky sap. Basal leaves ascending, gray with interwoven matted hairs, 5–16 in. long, elliptic, divided into narrow, sharply pointed, triangular lobes, with long tapering tip. Flower heads 20–100 or more, small at top of branched stems; flower head with 5–10 ray flowers, cup narrow, hairless or with sparse hairs. Grows in gravelly to sandy soils throughout dry areas of our region. Similar C. intermedia, intermediate hawksbeard, with 7–12 flowers in a flower head and usually 10–60 heads on a full-grown plant, is unable to reproduce by seed. Usually considered a hybrid swarm. Crepis pleurocarpa, shorter with 5–8 flowers in a head, grows on dry open slopes or lightly wooded areas, often in serpentine, at low to mid elevations in the Klamath Mountains.

• Rarity: Locally Common
• Flowering Time: Mid Spring
• Life Cycle: Perennial
• Height: 8--28 inches
• Habitat: Shrub-Steppe
• Found In: Wallowas, Steens, Great Basin
• Native: Yes