Hieracium lachenalii
species of plant
Hieracium lachenalii, or common hawkweed, is a species of plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe but has become established as a weed in Australia and parts of North America.
Taxonomy
The species was widely known for many years as H. vulgatum, but more recent studies have indicated that the two names represent the same species. The name H. lachenalii was coined in 1802, and H. vulgatum in 1819, so per taxonomic regulations, the older name is to be used, with H. vulgatum delegated to being a synonym.
Description
This common weed can grow and produce flowers on plants that range from 4 inches (10 centimeters) to 36 inches (91 cm) tall. The rhizome is short and stout. The broadly elliptic leaves can be up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) long and taper with teeth towards the base. Each flower head has 40-80 ray florets but no disc florets. Bracts surround the flower head; the receptacle (basal part of the flower on which the florets are attached) is flat and naked; heads tend to start together then become somewhat solitary on long leafless stems.
The stalks below the heads are covered with scattered, simple and gland-tipped black hairs and contain a milky substance.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hieracium lachenalii” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hieracium, lachenalii and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1521028. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1802 and 1819.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hieracium lachenalii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.