About Crepis runcinata (James) Torr. & A.Gray
Crepis runcinata (James) Torr. & A.Gray, commonly known as fiddleleaf hawksbeard, is a North American flowering plant species in the Asteraceae family. Its native range covers western and central Canada (from British Columbia to Manitoba), western and central United States (from the Pacific coast east as far as Minnesota, Iowa, western Kansas, and northwestern Texas), and northern Mexico (the state of Chihuahua). This species grows in a wide variety of habitat types, and is a variable taxon with multiple recognized subspecies.
In general, Crepis runcinata is a perennial herb that grows from a taproot. It produces an erect, hairless, mostly leafless, unbranched stem reaching up to around 80 centimeters (32 inches) in height. Hairless leaves are arranged in a rosette at the base of the plant; individual leaves are somewhat narrowly oval, with many toothlike triangular lobes, though they sometimes lack lobes entirely. The inflorescence bears flower heads with hairy, glandular phyllaries, which contain many yellow ray florets and no disc florets. The fruit produced is a small achene topped with a pappus.
The recognized subspecies and their distributions are: Crepis runcinata subsp. andersonii (A.Gray) Babc. & Stebbins – California, Nevada; Crepis runcinata subsp. barberi (Greenm.) Babc. & Stebbins – Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Chihuahua; Crepis runcinata subsp. glauca (Nutt.) Babc. & Stebbins – Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming; Crepis runcinata subsp. hallii Babc. & Stebbins – California, Nevada; Crepis runcinata subsp. hispidulosa (Howell ex Howell) Babc. & Stebbins – Alberta, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming; Crepis runcinata subsp. imbricata Babc. & Stebbins – Nevada, Oregon; Crepis runcinata subsp. runcinata – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
