Orange hawkweed

Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. March 2011.

Scientific name: Hieracium aurantiacum L.

Common name(s): orange hawkweed, tawny hawkweed

Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany

Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)

Description:

-perennial

-leaves are basal covered in trichomes

-10-36 inches tall

-spreads through stolons

-roots are shallow and fibrous

-generally flowers May to July in ME

-generally fruits July, August in ME

Habitat:

-grasslands

-forests

-wetlands

Agriculture:

-visited by a variety of insects, including bees and butterflies

-leaves are nutritious but trichomes limit herbivory

Management:

-maintain the integrity of the native plant community is  more effective than managing solely to control

• avoid building roads where you don’t want this weed

– Physical disturbance by machinery may spread orange hawkweed across fields

-disturbances such as activity by livestock and wildlife may enhance its spread

– Hand removal from lawns is more effective if used in conjunction with fertilizer

-Herbicides are effective in gaining initial control but they are rarely a r long-term solution to management

 

Source(s):

Hansen, R.W., S.B. Hansen and E.A. Osgood. 1991. Reproductive phenologies of selected flowering plants in eastern Maine forests. ME Agric. Exp. Station Tech. Bull. 143. 17 pp.

Heinrich, B. 1976. Flowering phenologies: Bog, woodland, and disturbed habitats. Ecology. 57(5):890-899.

U.S. Forest Service. “Hieracium Aurantiacum.” Fire Effects Information System (FEIS), USDA, 2020, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/hieaur/all.html.