Smooth Hawksbeard
Crepis capillaris
Asteraceae
Reported to be edible.
Smooth Hawksbeard is a annual or short-lived perennial, characterized by a shallow root system. The plant forms a dense rosette and leaves are described as toothed to runcinate-pinnatifid (lobed). Multiple yellow flowers form on erect slender stems. Smooth Hawksbeard is a weed of fields, pastures, roadsides and areas with disturbed soils. It can grow in a range of soil types but prefers moist well drained soils.
Smooth Hawksbeard is known to attract a range of bees species. Pollinators include hoverflies, honeybee, bumblebees, solitary bees, meat flies, butterflies, beetles, and thrips (Pladias.cz). It is a reported host for aphids in the genus Nasonovia, which include important pests such as lettuce aphids (Nasonovia ribisnigri. It is also a host for Sphaerotheca humuli (powdery mildew), Puccinia crepidis (rust), Synchytrium aureum (False rust) and a small Miridae plant bug (Labopidea pallida)