Hieracium albiflorum Hook.
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Asteraceae or Compositae
Genus: Hieracium
 
Species Synonyms: Chlorocrepis albiflora (Hook.) W.A. Weber
Hieracium helleri Gandog.
Common Names: white-flowered hawkweed
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: northwestern Mackenzie District – British Columbia – southwestern Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan: southwestern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills
Ecoregion: Cypress Upland
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: dry or gravelly soils in woods or grasslands
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Threatened
Nature Conservancy Status:
G4G5 S1S2
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Hieracium albiflorum is threatened because it is highly regionally restricted in the province. This species is locally abundant in the Cypress Hills.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 30 – 80 cm tall
Roots: roots fibrous; rhizomes
Stem: glabrous to sparingly pubescent
Leaves: basal and cauline; basal leaves several, petioles short with rusty long-hirsute hairs, 4 – 15 cm long, 3 – 6 cm wide, obovate to oblanceolate to oblong, apex acute, sparsely hairy, more hairy on midvein, margin denticulate and remotely toothed; cauline leaves few, alternate, sessile, reduced upwards, almost bract-like near the top, sparsely rusty long-hirsute especially at base
Inflorescence: heads several in compound corymbiform clusters, 0.5 – 0.8 mm broad, ligulate florets only; phyllaries in 2 – 3 series, outer series half as long as inner, 6 – 10 mm high, dark green, inner series scarious margined, glabrous to sparsely hairy, glandular at base
Flowers: ligulate florets 12 – 30, white or creamy
Fruits: achenes slender, ribbed; pappus of capillary bristles, to 3 mm long, off-white
 
KEY TO HIERACIUM IN SASKATCHEWAN
 
1 Flowers white or ochroleucus; stellate hairs absent
H. albiflorum
1 Flowers yellow or orange; usually with at least some stellate hairs
2
   
2 Roots long and slender, with offshoots; stem (scape) soft, long hirsute, scapose or with one or two small leaves; flowers orange
H. aurantiacum
2 Roots short and stout, without offshoots; stem firm and leafy; flowers yellow
3
   
3 Leaves with revolute scabrous margins, linear to narrowly lanceolate, upper narrowed or rounded at base, leaves 4 – 12 times longer than broad
H. umbellatum
3 Leaves flat, margins not scabrous, lanceolate to ovate, upper truncate to subcordate at base, leaves 2 – 5 times longer than broad
H. canadense var. canadense