Flatweed

Scientific Name:

Hypochaeris radicata

What is Flatweed?

Flatweed is a herb to 400 mm wide with yellow daisy type flowers up to 30 mm diameter borne on simple or branched, leafless stalks at any time of the year with a flush in spring to early summer. The small florets all have radiating petal-like blades. The tiny fly-away fruits are topped by a stalked ring of barbed to feathery bristles. Flatweed leaves form a flat rosette and are variable being entire to shallowly lobed, and usually somewhat bristly but can be hairless. The flower stems often have galls.

Flatweed is a perennial but often acts as an annual in drier climates. It is difficult to distinguish from Smooth Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris glabra) which is an annual. Hybrids between the two species are common.