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Lapsana communis
Also called Nipplewort, Hawk's Beard
Common nipplewort is a weedy wildflower in the daisy family with small yellow flower heads, grown mainly as a wild or foraged plant rather than a garden ornamental. It thrives in ordinary soil and sun or light shade, and is easy to grow from seed.
Lapsana communis, the common nipplewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and southwestern Asia, and it is widely naturalized in other regions including North America.
The young leaves are edible, and can be used in salads or cooked like spinach. Because of its tiny hairs, some might prefer it mixed with other vegetables. The scientific name comes from lapsane, an edible herb described by Marcus Terentius Varro of ancient Rome. The English name 'nipplewort' was coined in the 17th century as an equivalent of papillaris (from Latin papilla, meaning a nipple), the name used by German apothecaries, since the plant was used to treat cracked nipples and ulcerated breasts, especially under the doctrine of signatures on account of the flower buds' resemblance to nipples.
Away from its native area, Lapsana communis is common throughout the British Isles, naturalised, and sometimes considered an invasive species, in many areas around the world, including Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Greenland, and most of Canada and the United States.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lapsana communis 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.
