Crepis acuminata is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name tapertip hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of open habitat.[2][3]

Crepis acuminata

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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Crepis
Species:
C. acuminata
Binomial name
Crepis acuminata
Synonyms[1]
  • Berinia acuminata (Nutt.) Sch.Bip.
  • Crepis angustata Rydb.
  • Crepis seselifolia Rydb.
  • Hieracioides acuminatum (Nutt.) Kuntze
  • Psilochenia acuminata (Nutt.) W.A.Weber

Description

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Crepis acuminata is a perennial herb producing a woolly, branching stem up to about 70 centimeters (28 inches) tall from a taproot. The gray-green leaves are 10–40 cm (4–15+12 in) long[4] and cut into many triangular, pointed lobes.

The longest, near the base of the plant, may reach 40 cm (16 in) in length. The inflorescence is an open array of flower heads at the top of the stem branches. Each of the many flower heads is about 1.5–2.5 cm (58–1 in) wide[4] enveloped in smooth or hairy phyllaries. The flower head opens into a face of up to 10 yellow ray florets. There are no disc florets. The fruit is a narrow achene 7 or 8 millimetres (932 or 516 in) long tipped with a pappus of white hairlike bristles.[5]

Distribution and habitat

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It is native from eastern Washington and eastern California to central Montana, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. It can be found in dry and open areas in sagebrush habitats and coniferous forests.[4]

References

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  1. ^ The Plant List, Crepis acuminata Nutt.
  2. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  3. ^ Calflora taxon report, University of California, Crepis acuminata Nutt., Long Leaved Hawk's Beard, Tall hawksbeard, long leaved hawksbeard, tapertip hawksbeard
  4. ^ a b c Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
  5. ^ Flora of North America, Longleaf or tapertip hawksbeard, Crepis acuminata Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 437. 1841.
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