General: Annual or biennial herb with a more or less evident taproot; stems erect, solitary, branched, glabrous to sparingly long-hairy, 10-55 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves oblanceolate to elliptic, stalked, 0.8-3 cm long, 0.3-1 cm wide, coarsely toothed or lobed, nearly glabrous to long-hairy, soon deciduous; stem leaves larger, 2-10 cm long, 0.5-4.5 cm wide, oblanceolate, coarsely toothed to more often pinnately cut, nearly glabrous to long-hairy, not greatly reduced upwards, with ear-like lobes, these clasping at the bases.
Flowers: Heads discoid, several to numerous on glabrous to long-hairy stalks in an open inflorescence; involucres 5-8 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, green, black-tipped, glabrous, margins translucent, hairy at the tips; bracteoles numerous, conspicuous, black-tipped; discoid; disk flowers yellow.
Fruits: Achenes oblong, faintly ribbed, bristly-hairy; pappus of white hairlike bristles.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Shade-intolerant, submontane to subalpine, European forb introduced transcontinentally. Occurs in maritime to submaritime climates on very moist to wet, nitrogen-rich soils; its occurrence decreases with increasing elevation and continentality. Scattered to plentiful, occasionally dominant, in non-forested communities on cutover, fire-disturbed, or continuously disturbed sites, where it inhabits exposed mineral soils. Often associated with Anaphalis margaritacea, Hieraciumalbiflorum, Hypochaeris radicata, Holcus lanatus, and Mycelis muralis. A nitrophytic species characteristic of early-seral communities.
