Crepis paludosa, the Marsh Hawksbeard, is found beside shady burns, and in other damp shady places.

Flower diameter c 1.5-2.5 cm
Crepis is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of about 200 annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 and perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 flowering plants found in the family

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

 Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 resembling Dandelion, the main differences being that Hawksbeards have multiple flowers per plant as well as branching stems. The name Crepis derives from Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, meaning 'shoe'.

Species characteristics

The upper leaves of Marsh Hawksbeard clasp the stem with pair of rounded basal lobes. The plant is perennial. It is a much more robust plant than Smooth Hawksbeard, with which it is sometimes confused. Flowers are yellow and the flower buds are covered with black gland-hairs.

External links

• USDA Plants Profile: North American Crepis