Marsh hawk's-beard

Crepis paludosa, the marsh hawk's-beard, is a perennial herb of the family Asteraceae growing 20 to 80 cm tall, with an erect, leafy, often reddish stem arising from a basal rosette. The lower leaves are oblong to lance-shaped, toothed and tapering to a winged stalk, while the upper leaves clasp the stem with arrow-shaped bases. The flower heads are dandelion-like with yellow ray florets and are grouped in a loose terminal cluster; the involucral bracts are conspicuously clothed in dark, often blackish glandular hairs. The fruit is a ribbed achene with a brownish pappus. It flowers in summer. Native to Europe and naturalised in places, marsh hawk's-beard grows in damp, shaded habitats such as wet woodland, fens, marshy meadows, streamsides and mountain flushes, often on base-rich soils.