|
An
Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Hieracium
pilosella
mouse-ear
hawkweed
Family
ASTERACEAE
Reproduced
from
Common
Weeds of New Zealand
by Bruce Roy, Ian Popay, Paul Champion, Trevor James & Anis
Rahman
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the authors and publisher. Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always
be given.
Available from Manaaki-Whenua
Press and Touchwood
Books
Creeping, rosette-based,
mat-forming perennial, often in dense colonies that exclude all
other vegetation. Each flower stalk carries one large yellow composite
flower head. The leaves have long hairs on the upper surface, and
are downy white with star-shaped hairs on the undersides.
- Flowers
Lemon-yellow, about 3 cm in diameter, solitary on leafless stalks.
The florets often have a red stripe the on outer surface. Flowers
Oct-Feb.
- Fruit
Purplish-black achenes, about 2 mm by 0.5 mm, with off-white,
simple brittle pappus hairs 5-6 mm long in a single row.
- Leaves
Dense rosette leaves are 5-8 cm long, almost entire, bluish-green.
Leaves with scattered long hairs about 5 mm long on the upper
surface, white with dense star-shaped hairs on undersides.
- Stems
Slender, unbranched flower stalks 10-25 cm tall and slender, creeping,
hairy stolons spreading along the ground surface.
- Roots
Creeping underground rhizomes.
Habitat
High-country tussock
and dry pasture land, river flats and terraces, road-sides and
forest margins.
Distribution
Increasing in NI in
Rotorua, Volcanic Plateau, Lake Waikaremoana, Kaimanawa and Ruahine
Ranges and in Hawkes Bay. Common throughout SI and, except for
Nelson, abundant in upper Waitaki Valley. Originally from Europe,
north and central Asia.
Comments
A major weed of SI
High Country pastures. Can be controlled by pasture improvement.
Separated from other, similar species, by its large, solitary,
pale yellow flowers and dense star-shaped hairs on stolons and
undersides of leaves. Subject to Pest Plant Management Strategies
in one or more regions. Check with the regional council for details.
Derivation
of botanical name
Hieracium
from the Gr. name for hawk, since Pliny, the Roman naturalist
believed hawks ate the plant to strengthen their eyesight; pilosella
(Lat.) = with short soft hairs.

Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network Weeds Fact Sheets
- Search for 1500 weed fact sheets mainly derived from the Department of
Conservation's BIOWEB weeds database.
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
New
Zealand Landcare Trust
- Plant Pest information including Pictures, Distribution Maps, References,
Environmental Effects and Control.
-
- New
Zealand Aquatic Weeds
- Hosted by the weed management group of NIWA (National Institute of Water
and Atmospheric Research).
-
- Weed
Control Manual for the Bay of Plenty
- Weeds information compiled by Environment Bay of Plenty.
-
Massey
University Weeds Database
- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
-
- Canterbury
Weed Guide
- A weed identification guide prepared by the Christchurch City Council.
-
- Australian
Plants as Weeds
- Part of the Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants website.
- Department
of Agriculture Western Australia
- Collection of weed resources from the Department of Agriculture, Government
of Western Australia
- Weed
Society of Victoria
- Promoting wider awareness and interest in weeds and their management.
Includes a useful page of links
to other weed societies.
-
- Tamar
Valley Weeds Strategy
- Listing of common and botanical names, images, and information including
control methods for weeds found in Tasmania, and also on the Australian
mainland.
-
-
- New
Jersey Weed Gallery, USA
- Listing of common and botanical names and images, plus a small amount
of information for weeds that cause problems in the USA.
- Invasive
and Exotic Species of North America
- Images and other information from the University of Georgia.
- University
of California
- Weed Photo Gallery, with common and botanical names.
-
- World
of Weeds
- Weed-related resources including weed science, practical tools, gardening
tips about controlling weeds, and environmental news updates.
-
- Invasive
Species Specialist Group
- "The ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native
species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species,
and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them."
-
- Invasive
Woody Plants
- Collection of research and associated literature for invasive woody plants
in the tropics and the temperate zone.
-
- WeedScience.com
- Site that includes a comprehensive collection of weed images from around
the world.
-
-
Books
on Weeds from FetchBook.Info
More
Plant Profiles
|