Crepis bursifolia aka Italian Hawksbeard

Crepis bursifolia is known as Italian hawksbeard. It belongs to Asteraceae, the daisy family. Kew says it is native to the western and central Mediterranean. Its native range includes Tenerife in the Canary Islands too. Kew says it grows in temperate climates. The RHS lists it as non-native to Britain and Ireland. Plants For A Future lists it in several European countries and California too. That list does not say which plants are native. Nor does it say where people brought them from elsewhere.

This plant is a perennial: it lives for more than one year. The sources give no sound figures for height or spread. They give no leaf or stem details for this species. They do not describe this species' flowers or fruit either. Plants For A Future says its flowers are hermaphrodite. Each flower thus has both male and female organs. The sources give no months when it blooms. They do not confirm how pollen moves between flowers. These gaps limit what we can say about its garden form.

Plants For A Future lists sand, loam and clay as suitable soils. It lists mildly acid, neutral and mildly alkaline soils too. Its account says the plant likes moist soil. It allows full sun or some light shade. A separate note on how to grow it suggests sun. That note also suggests soil that drains well. But it says little is known about growing this plant. Its advice on sun is tentative, not a tested rule. The source lists garden beds as a place to grow it. It gives no firm guide to when to water. Nor does it state how fast the plant grows.

The account leaves its ability to cope with British winters unclear. Plants For A Future suggests it may grow outdoors across much of Britain. It bases this view on the plant's native range. It gives no hardiness rating or frost limit. The source suggests sowing seed where the plants will grow. It proposes spring, or late summer once the seed ripens. But it lacks seed-raising facts for this species to back that advice.

The leaves have a recorded use as raw salad greens. Plants For A Future says they have a mild taste. It rates the plant's food value at two out of five. It lists no known uses as medicine or for other needs. The account reports no known hazards. This does not mean the plant is safe for pets. The sources name no pests or diseases.