Crepis acuminata

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Crepisacuminata.JPG

|status = {{TNCStatus}}

|status_system = TNC

|genus = Crepis

|species = acuminata

|authority = Nutt.

|synonyms_ref = [http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/gcc-106294 The Plant List, Crepis acuminata Nutt. ]

|synonyms =

  • Berinia acuminata (Nutt.) Sch.Bip.
  • Crepis angustata Rydb.
  • Crepis seselifolia Rydb.
  • Hieracioides acuminatum (Nutt.) Kuntze
  • Psilochenia acuminata (Nutt.) W.A.Weber

}}

Crepis acuminata is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name tapertip hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of open habitat.[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Crepis%20acuminata.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map][http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Crepis+acuminata Calflora taxon report, University of California, Crepis acuminata Nutt., Long Leaved Hawk's Beard, Tall hawksbeard, long leaved hawksbeard, tapertip hawksbeard ]

Description

Crepis acuminata is a perennial herb producing a woolly, branching stem up to about 70 centimeters (28 inches) tall from a taproot. The gray-green leaves are {{Convert|10-40|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} long{{Cite book |last=Spellenberg |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00spel/page/368/ |title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region |publisher=Knopf |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-375-40233-3 |edition=rev |pages=368 |orig-date=1979}} and cut into many triangular, pointed lobes.

The longest, near the base of the plant, may reach {{Convert|40|cm|abbr=on}} in length. The inflorescence is an open array of flower heads at the top of the stem branches. Each of the many flower heads is about {{Convert|1.5-2.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide enveloped in smooth or hairy phyllaries. The flower head opens into a face of up to 10 yellow ray florets. There are no disc florets. The fruit is a narrow achene {{Convert|7 or 8|mm|frac=32}} long tipped with a pappus of white hairlike bristles.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066438 Flora of North America, Longleaf or tapertip hawksbeard, Crepis acuminata Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 437. 1841. ]

Distribution and habitat

It is native from eastern Washington and eastern California to central Montana, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. It can be found in dry and open areas in sagebrush habitats and coniferous forests.

References

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