Flora Pittsburghensis

Tag: Fox-and-Cubs

  • Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum)

    Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum)
    Photographed May 29.

    A common weed of lawns; it closely resembles the more spectacular Orange Hawkweed (H. aurantiacum) in everything but color. This one has many common names, some of which it shares with the orange species, including King Devil, Devil’s Paintbrush, Yellow Paintbrush, and Fox-and-Cubs. Many current botanists place both in the genus Pilosella, so that (making the adjective agree in gender) it becomes Pilosella caespitosa; but there are still arguments about that, and old Pa Pitt will stand back and let the professionals sort it out. These plants were blooming in a field near Farmington.

    Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum)

  • Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum)

    Our only bright orange dandelion-like flower, impossible to confuse with anything else. In many modern classifications this is placed in the genus Pilosella as Pilosella aurantiaca, but the taxonomy is still more confused than old Pa Pitt cares to sort out. It is not a common flower in the city of Pittsburgh, but a little bit to the north it becomes ubiquitous. St. Peter’s Cemetery in Arlington is one of the places in Pittsburgh where Orange Hawkweed does grow, and that is where these plants were photographed.

    Photographed June 24 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.