Common Hawkweed - Hieracium vulgatum f. vulgatum
Short to tall hairy plant, basal leaves (few in number) - lanceolate to oval, toothed, stem leaves similar, the upper smaller and unstalked. Leaves often purple blotched beneath. Flowerheads yellow in a spreading flat topped cluster. Flower bracts hairy and glandular. We have to thank national expert Vince Jones who determined this to species level.
Many other Hawkweeds
Identifying most Hieracium to species-level is extremely difficult, and can only be done from a specimen by an expert in the genus. Stace (4th edition) separates the 415 microspecies into 15 sections which can be identified with care on the basis of leaf characteristics.
A specimen is required for verification
Rocky grassland and banks.
June to August.
Perennial.
More common in Northern Britain than in the South.
Infrequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 13 of the 617 tetrads.
 By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 3.6.2007).JPG)
Graham Calow
Leicester Road Quarry, Sapcote
03 June 2007. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 11.6.2008).JPG)
Graham Calow
Leicester Road Quarry, Sapcote
11 June 2008
Graham Calow
Sapcote
06 June 2013
specimen examined
Graham Calow
Sapcote
06 June 2013
specimen examined. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336. (taken 14.9.2008).JPG)
Graham Calow
Leicester Road Quarry, Sapcote
14 September 2008, By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 29.5.2006).JPG)
Graham Calow
Leicester Road Quarry, Sapcote
29 May 2006. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336. (Underside of Leaf) (taken 1.8.2007).JPG)
Graham Calow
Leicester Road Quarry, Sapcote
01 August 2007
 By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 3.6.2007).JPG)
. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 11.6.2008).JPG)
. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336. (taken 14.9.2008).JPG)
, By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336 (taken 29.5.2006).JPG)
. By Leicester Road Quarry Wall Sapcote SP 4970 9336. (Underside of Leaf) (taken 1.8.2007).JPG)
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Species profile
- Common names
- Common Hawkweed, Pale-headed Hawkweed
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Asterales
- Family:
- Asteraceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 3
- First record:
- 06/06/2013 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 22/07/2020 (Calow, Graham)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
Graham Calow
Sapcote
06 June 2013
specimen examined
Graham Calow
Sapcote
06 June 2013
specimen examined
Graham Calow
Sapcote, near Leicester Road Quarry
22 July 2020
Confirmed from specimen by County Recorder
Graham Calow
Sapcote, near Leicester Road Quarry
22 July 2020
Confirmed from specimen by County Recorder
Lostash
Whetstone Station Street Footpath
30 August 2015
Graham Calow
Sapcote, near Leicester Road Quarry
22 July 2020
Confirmed from specimen by County Recorder
Graham Calow
Sapcote, near Leicester Road Quarry
22 July 2020
Confirmed from specimen by County Recorder
Uroleucon obscurum
Uroleucon obscurum has been recorded on 26 Hieracium species. The species does not host alternate. It can be found on the upper parts of stems of Hawkweeds (Hieracium spp.). Adult apterae of Uroleucon obscurum are reddish brown to bronze with black antennae and siphunculi and a yellow cauda. The body length of an adult Uroleucon obscurum aptera is rather less than for most species at 1.8 to 3.7 mm.
Aulacidea hieracii
The larvae of the Cynipid gall wasp Aulacidea hieracii gall the stems of Hieracium species. The galls are rounded swellings up to 4 cm long. The part of the plant above the gall is usually strongly suppressed. The gall may be smooth, but can also be covered by erect white hairs, it is green and succulent at first becoming hard and brown later. Each gall contains several chambers each containing a whitish larva or a pupa.