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Pilosella officinarum

Common name:	Mouse-Ear Hawkweed	Family:	Compositae
Author:	F.W.Schultz.& Sch.Bip.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Hieracium pilosella (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Temperate and subarctic Europe, including Britain, to W. Asia.
Habitat:	Upland pastures, meadows, heaths, banks, on walls etc, usually on dry soil[7, 9, 13]. It is also found as a weed of lawns[1].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Hieraceum pilosella[DUTCH,HORTIPLEX]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Habichtskraut [E], Hawkweed [H], Mouse Ear [H], Mouse-ear Hawkweed [L,H,B], Mouseear Hawkweed [P], Muizenoor [D], Pilosella [H], Sahinotu [E], Vellosilla [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Germany Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.2m by 0.2m . It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Lawn, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Cholagogue Diaphoretic Diuretic Expectorant Tonic.

Mouse-ear hawkweed relaxes the muscles of the bronchial tubes, stimulates the cough reflex and reduces the production of catarrh[254]. This combination of actions makes the herb effective against all manner of respiratory problems including asthma, wheeziness, whooping cough, bronchitis and other congested and chronic coughs[254].
The herb is mildly astringent, cholagogue, diaphoretic, strongly diuretic, expectorant and tonic[4, 7, 9, 21, 165]. The fresh plant is antibiotic[7]. The plant has been regarded as a specific for whooping cough[4] and is also used in treating other problems of the respiratory system such as asthma, bronchitis and influenza[238]. The herb is also taken in the treatment of enteritis, influenza, pyelitis and cystitis[9]. It is occasionally used externally in the treatment of small wounds and cuts[7].The plant is harvested in May and June whilst in flower and can be used fresh or dried[4, 238].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in a sunny position in any well-drained soil[200]. Prefers a well-drained to dry poor soil in sun or partial shade[238].
A common lawn plant[1], it is also a good bee and butterfly plant[108, 200]. It grows well on the top of dry walls[200].
A strongly stoloniferous plant, it can be very invasive[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame and only just cover the seed. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
If you have sufficient seed it can be sown outdoors in situ in the spring or autumn[238].
Division in spring or autumn[238]. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Suppliers

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

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Hieraceum pilosella (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Hieracium pilosella (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[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.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

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

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[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.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[108] International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association. 1981
The title says it all.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

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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
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