Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Pilosella officinarum subsp. officinarum
Common name
Mouse-ear Hawkweed
Family
Asteraceae
Where found
Weed. Kosciuszko National Park. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT.
Notes
Perennial herb to 0.4 m high. Spreads via creeping aboveground stems (stolons) and develops colonies that can out-compete and replace all other ground vegetation. Flower stems hairy, with stellate, glandular, and simple hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves in a basal rosette, occasionally alternating up the stems, 1–12 cm long, 4–20 mm wide; upper surface light green and with scattered coarse white simple hairs, lower surface almost white with a covering of small stellate hairs and long non-glandular hairs 1–2 mm long, margins entire, tips pointed or almost pointed. Leaves on the stolons much smaller. Flower heads yellow, 10-30 mm in diameter, with 60–120+ 'petals', the 'petals' often with a red stripe on the back. Flower heads below the 'petals' hemispherical to top-shaped. Bracts appressed to the flower heads 20–34+. Flower heads single. Flowers summer.
Was Hieracium pilosella.
National Environmental Alert List (as Pilosella species). General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions in all NSW (as Pilosella species). Noxious weed Vic (as Hieracium spp.).
PROHIBITED MATTER in NSW (as Pilosella spp.): If you see this plant report it to the NSW Invasive Plants & Animals Enquiry Line 1800 680 244
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Pilosella~officinarum+subsp.~officinarum (accessed 3 April 2021)
Description partly based on Flora of North America (as Hieracium pilosella): http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066951 (accessed 3 April 2021)
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