Leontodon hispidus aka Rough Hawkbit

Leontodon hispidus, also known as bristly hawkbit or rough hawkbit, is a perennial herbaceous plant native to Europe but can also be found as an introduced species throughout North America. It has been ranked as the top non-weed perennial in a British study for its high nectar productivity in meadow flora. Its nectar production was nearly double that of the best-ranking annual plant that was not considered a weed. Interestingly, certain weed species such as ragwort, bull thistle, and creeping thistle produced the most nectar overall. This species forms a rosette of coarsely hairy, lobed leaves and produces yellow flower heads similar to dandelions during the summer and early autumn. It is often grown as a wildflower in grassy habitats and thrives in well-drained alkaline soil with full sun. Leontodon hispidus is a 10-60 cm tall plant with a cylindrical rootstock that descends vertically or sloping abruptly. The stems of this plant are erect or ascending, occasionally arched, and can be single or multistemmed. They bear one or rarely two flowering heads, slightly thickened below with up to two floral bracts. The stems may be hairy or glabrous and longer than the foliage leaves. The foliage leaves are mainly basal, forming a rosette and are highly variable in shape, ranging from oblong to oblanceolate. They have broad indistinct petioles and can be entire, sinuate-dentate, or pinnately split. The color of the foliage leaves ranges from grass-green to grey-green and may have soft to stiff hairs. The achene of Leontodon hispidus is oblong-bacillary, measuring 6-7.5 mm in length and 0.7-0.9 mm in width. It is slightly tapered at both margins and slightly angularly compressed with fine lateral grooves. The pappus, which is the hairy appendage attached to the achene, is brownish-white to yellowish in color. The outer hairs are simple bristles, while the inner ones are lanceolate leaflets that fade into pinnate hairs, reaching up to 10 mm in length. The surface of the achene is auburn to dark brown and slightly glossy. Rough hawkbit is not picky about soil conditions and can tolerate drought due to its deep roots. It prefers soils with an intermediate to good nutrient supply and a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. It is best to avoid wet, waterlogged, or heavily weed-infested soils, as well as soils rich in peat, light, or dry. If rough hawkbit populations are densely grown, cutting them before the crop year begins in early autumn can be beneficial. In cases of low weed competition, mechanical weed control is sufficient, and curry combs can be used without harming the plant. Controlling weed grasses is relatively easy, but herbicide control of dicotyledonous weed species can be challenging. Wiping wick and total herbicides, such as Glyphosate, can be effective in controlling weeds during the seeding year in summer and autumn, as well as in the spring of the harvesting year, taking advantage of the differences in growth heights.