Annual to perennial, rhizomatous herbs with leafy or leafless, simple or branched stems and shoots. Leaves variable, in basal rosettes or not, unlobed to variously lobed to bipinnatifid, gradually reduced in size upwards, uppermost rather bract like, alternate. Capitula few to many-flowered, erect, mediocre to large, borne in corymb-like, racemiform or paniculate synflorescence, homogamous, ligulate. Involucre narrow, cylindrical to campanulate. Phyllaries multiseriate, outer ones somewhat imbricate, gradually longer inwards but shorter than the subequal, linear-lanceolate, externally simple or glandular hairy or rarely appressed arachnoid inner phyllaries. Receptacle usually naked, sometimes paleate. Florets with striate or estriate, yellow, sometimes reddish or pinkish purple or white ligules but not in our area. Anthers appendaged. Style branches filiform or truncate. Cypselas cylindrical or sometimes subcylindrical, fusiform, 10-20- ribbed, ribs finely spinulose to glabrous or smooth,distinctly attenuate at beakless or beaked apices. Pappus soft to somewhat rigid, straight or entangled like cotton hairs, 1-4-seriate, white to yellowish or dark brown, persistent or deciduous-caducous.
A medium-sized genus consisting of about 200 plus species (Mabberley, 2008), chiefly found in temperate and subtropical Europe, and Asia, some in North and Central Aftica and North America and one each in S. Africa and S. America. Represented in Pakistan by 7 species.
Crepis L. is best distinguished from Hieracium by its long and short rows of phyllaries which form the shape of a cup and saucer.