貓兒菊屬

Hypochaeris radicata Credit: HAST

Annual or perennial herbs with coarse, multicellular, unbranched hairs. Leaves generally all rosulate, entire to dentate-pinnatifid or pinnatisect. Heads solitary on leafless scapes or in loose corymbs on leafless or sparingly bracteate and few-branched stems. Receptacle paleate. Flowers yellow or rarely orange-yellow, dorsally sometimes reddish or greenish striped. Style branches long, with very short hairs. Achenes ellipsoid to terete, longitudinally ribbed, transversely often distinctly rugulose or muricate or scabrid, beaked or not, frequently dimorphic with outer achenes not beaked and inner ones beaked. Pappus bristles plumose, basally widened, sometimes reduced to scales or rarely absent (generally in outer florets).

About 60 species in South America, Europe, Asia, especially in temperate South America and the Mediterranean region; one species naturalized in Taiwan.

Lower Taxon

• Hypochaeris radicata L.