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Crepis vesicaria

Common name:		Family:	Compositae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Crepis taraxacifolia (Thuill.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	W. and S. Europe. Introduced and naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Waysides, walls, railway banks and waste places, especially in calcareous soils, to 150 metres[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Beaked Hawk's-beard [L,B], Beaked Hawksbeard [P], Paardenbloemstreepzaad [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	vesicaria = bladder like
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 0.8m. . It is in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen from June to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw. Used in salads, they have a bitter taste[217].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

See the plants native habitat for ideas on its needs[K].
C. vesicaria is a large aggregate species that it sometimes divided into various sub-species[17].
Plants are usually biennial, but they can be perennial or even annual[17].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in situ either as soon as it is ripe in late summer or in the spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[217] Les Ecologistes de l'Euzière Les Salades Sauvages Not given. 1994 ISBN 2-906128-04-X
A lovely little book about some wild salads in France. Written in French.

Readers Comments

Crepis aurea

Ralf Gering (r.gering@student.uni-tuebingen.de) Tue Dec 18 14:14:18 2001

The flowers of Crepis aurea (German: Gold-Pippau) was used in the Alps to color cheese and to make teas for treating coughs. It grows up to 2,900 metres.

Cross references: Genera: Crepis.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Crepis+vesicaria
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Crepis+vesicaria

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