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Smooth cat's ear

Hypochaeris glabra

Also called Smooth Catsear, Flatweed, Glabrous Catsear, False Dandelion, Glabrous Cat's Ear, Small Capeweed, Smooth Flatweed

Smooth cat's ear
Photo: Copyright by Curtis Clark, licensed as noted, CC BY-SA 2.5

Smooth cat's ear is a small annual herb in the daisy family, with a basal rosette of leaves and yellow dandelion-like flowers on thin stems. It is a widespread weed in many regions and grows mainly as a wild plant rather than a garden plant.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
How easy
Easy
Native range
Macaronesia, Europe to Medit. and Arabian Pen.
Climate
temperate

About

Hypochaeris glabra is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae known by the common name smooth cat's ear. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East but it can be found on other continents where it is an introduced species and a widespread weed. It has become widespread in Africa, southern and southeastern Asia, Australia, and parts of the Americas (especially California).

Hypochaeris glabra is an annual herb growing a small taproot, a basal rosette of leaves, and one or more thin stems 10–40 cm (4–16 in) tall. The leaves are 2–10 cm (3⁄4–4 in) long, smooth along the edges or with small lobes, and green in color, sometimes with a purplish tint near the veins. Atop the thin, naked stems are flower heads with small overlapping purple-tipped phyllaries and bright yellow ray florets.

Other Hypochaeris plants

Brazilian Cat's Ear · Hairy cat's ear

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hypochaeris glabra by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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