Picris hieracioidesL.

hawkweed oxtongue

WFO wfo-0000085370 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Picris hieracioides, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. a Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205465663
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. b Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200724810
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. c Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196806555
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. d Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 181213320
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. e Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172688055
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Bee Together
fig. f Bee Together, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 173004095
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. g Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168977276
Picris hieracioides, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. h Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168521757

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 55 botanical countries

Regions where Picris hieracioides is native: Altay, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, West Siberia, Assam, East Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine AltayChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeWest SiberiaAssamEast HimalayaMyanmarNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Picris hieracioides, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
West Siberia WSB
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
East Himalaya EHM
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 1,212 in flower of 1,379 examined

Peak flowering in Sep. Each bar is the share of Picris hieracioides observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 1,212 of 1,379 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 111 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Apargia hieracioides Willd.
  • Apargia rigens Mart. ex Rchb.
  • Apargia umbellata (Schrank) Schrank
  • Closirospermum asperum Bubani
  • Crepis hieracioides (L.) Lam.
  • Crepis hispidissima Bartl.
  • Crepis lappacea Willd.
  • Crepis lappacea Lapeyr.
  • Crepis scabra Lapeyr.
  • Crepis virgata Lapeyr.
  • Hedypnois hieracioides (L.) Huds.
  • Helminthia echioides subsp. humifusa (Willd.) Arcang.
  • Hieracium muricellum Fr.
  • Hieracium muricellum subsp. muricellum
  • Leontodon corymbosus Borkh.
  • Leontodon hieracioides (Willd.) DC.
  • Leontodon umbellatus Schrank
  • Picris angustissima Arv.-Touv. ex Chenevard
  • Picris angustissima Chenevard
  • Picris arvalis Jord. ex Boreau
  • Picris aspera Gilib.
  • Picris attenuata A.Cunn.
  • Picris auriculata Sch.Bip.
  • Picris benearnensis Rouy

and 87 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol PIHI. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.