1. Hypochaeris radicata L. (spotted cat’s ear)

Pl. 256 c, d; Map 1071

Plants perennial herbs, with a thickened, vertical rootstock and 1 or few often thickened main roots. Latex white. Stems 1 or more commonly few to numerous, 10–60 cm long, erect or ascending, usually few-branched above the midpoint, finely longitudinally ridged, glabrous or sparsely to moderately pubescent with white, somewhat spreading hairs, these often somewhat flattened and gradually expanded at the base. Leaves all basal (except for much-reduced, mostly scalelike, bracteal leaves along the branches), sessile or with a short, winged petiole. Leaf blades 3–35 cm long, narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, ranging from pinnately several-lobed with bluntly triangular to oblong-rounded lobes and rounded sinuses to unlobed but with few to several broad, shallow, spreading teeth, both surfaces moderately to densely pubescent with relatively coarse, white, spreading hairs. Venation of 1 main vein and sometimes very faint, arching secondary veins. Heads solitary at the branch tips (sometimes appearing loosely paniculate), appearing long-stalked. Involucre 10–15 mm long at flowering, elongating to 17–25 mm at fruiting, cup-shaped to broadly cylindrical, the bracts mostly 20–28 in 4–6 overlapping series, ovate to narrowly lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely to moderately hairy along the midnerve, green, the margins often thin and pale, the tip appressed-ascending, often with a minute fringe of hairs, sometimes purplish-tinged. Receptacle with a chaffy bract wrapped around the base of each floret, these usually extending just past the pappus at flowering and elongating as the fruits mature, very narrowly triangular, white, papery. Ligulate florets 25–55. Corollas 10–16 mm long, bright yellow, occasionally somewhat grayish-tinged on the outer surface. Pappus 10–12 mm long, of numerous bristles, the outer series shorter and finely barbed, the others longer and plumose, straw-colored, persistent at fruiting. Fruits 8–15 mm long (including the beak), the body narrowly oblong-elliptic in outline, not flattened, 10–14-ribbed, tapered at the tip to a slender beak about as long as the body, the pappus attached to the expanded, disclike tip, the surface roughened with minute, ascending tubercles or barbs, otherwise glabrous, brown to reddish brown. 2n=8. May–August.

Introduced, uncommon and sporadic in the southern half of the state (native of Europe, Asia, introduced widely in the U.S. [including Alaska, but excluding the Great Plains]; Canada). Lawns, railroads, roadsides, and open, disturbed areas.

A second species has become naturalized sporadically in the southern states and is known from both Arkansas and southern Illinois. Hypochaeris glabra L. (smooth cat’s ear) is an annual with smaller, more glabrous leaves, finer stems, and smaller, less showy heads than those of H. radicata. This European species also has dimorphic fruits, with the outermost florets producing beakless achenes and those produced by the remaining florets having long, slender beaks.