Sow Thistle—Sonchus oleraceus.
Silver-puffs—Microseris linearifolia.
There are a great many kinds of Crepis, natives of the northern hemisphere.
Gray Hawksbeard
Crèpis occidentàlis
Yellow
Spring, summer
West, etc.
This is a pretty plant, for the gray-green foliage sets off the yellow flowers. It is from six to eighteen inches high, more or less hairy or downy all over, with one or several, stout, branching, leafy stems, and thickish leaves, variously cut, mostly jagged like Dandelion leaves, with crisp margins, dark bluish-green in color and often covered on the under side with obscure white down, the root-leaves narrowed to leaf-stalks at the base. The flower-heads are about an inch across, with bright yellow rays, the involucre sprinkled with short, dark hairs. This grows on dry plains, as far east as Colorado.
Smooth Hawksbeard
Crèpis vìrens
Yellow
Summer
Cal., Oreg., etc.
This is a weed from Europe, growing in fields and waste places, in the East and on the Pacific Coast. It is a smooth plant, from one to two feet tall, with green leaves the shape of Dandelion leaves, chiefly in a bunch at the root. The many, small, yellow flowers, each about a quarter of an inch long, are in a loose cluster at the top of the stem. This is very variable.
Hawksbeard
Crèpis acuminàta
Yellow
Spring, summer
West, except Ariz.
A handsome and conspicuous plant, often forming large clumps, from one to three feet tall, with dull green, downy, rather leathery leaves, irregularly slashed and cut, and large clusters of light bright yellow flowers, each about three-quarters of an inch across. This grows on hillsides and on high dry mesas.