Below are 41 plants that, like dandelions, are members of the Aster/Sunflower/Composite family and can have flower heads with yellow ray flowers and no disc flowers.
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Habitat: Fields, forests, vacant lots, disturbed areas)
Habitat: Forests
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Involucre smooth with 7-9 principal bracts and 9-13 ray flowers per head, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
Habitat: Mountain forests, grassy balds, at high elevations
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Inflorescence cylindric, thyrsoid, the branches very short, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
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The involucres have some long spreading hairs and black-tipped bracts, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Leaves hastate [without additional lobes]; margins dentate, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
Habitat: Mountain forests, grassy balds, at moderate to high elevations
Habitat: Forests
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Petioles winged; leaf blades usually ovate or triangular, often deeply 3-lobed, per Flora of North America.
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Usually 5 florets in each head, subtended by 5 smooth principal bracts, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Recognized by narrow involucres with 5 pale green, glabrous phyllaries, in combination with...
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Cypselae subcylindric, subterete; pappi usually whitish or pale yellow, per Flora of North America.
Habitat: Forests
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Inner bracts minutely bristly, outer narrowly lanceolate. Rays yellow-white, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Involucre has 8 principal bracts w a few long coarse hairs, oft black-dotted, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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Principal leaves usually evidently lobed, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
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Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed ground, pastures
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Mostly smooth-stemmed with copious fine prickles on leaf margins and midrib, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Involucres 10-15mm long, 3-5mm broad. Bracts imbricate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Heads are ligulate (having only ray flowers), small, and yellow-flowered, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Nutlets brown, oblanceolate, 5-ribbed on each face; pappus white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed ground, perhaps associated with circumneutral soils
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Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed ground
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Orange-yellow flowers extend slightly from urn-shaped involucral cylinders, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
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A smooth sometimes glaucous plant. Leaves variable but without spiny margins, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Cypselae brown, ± flattened, elliptic, beaks ± filiform; pappi white, per Flora of North America.
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Many pale to deep yellow flowers in each head, but involucres < 1/2" high, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
Habitat: Dry, sandy woodlands, forest edges
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Inflorescence with branches widely spreading (almost perpendicular) from the stem, per Weakley's Flora (2024).
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Fruiting involucres 15-22mm tall (vs. those of L. canadensis 10-15mm tall), per Weakley's Flora (2020).
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Flowers heads relatively large, the involucres measuring 1/2"+ in height, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Lobes blocky, widest above the base and blunt, square or rounded at the tip (like a Post Oak), per Weakley's Flora (2023).
Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, forest edges, thickets
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Flowers typically blue, but yellow in one form. Panicle branches short, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Leaves on winged petioles, 4-12" long, with several wide, coarsely toothed, pointy-tipped lobes, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
Habitat: Cultivated throughout our area in home gardens and commercially, rarely weakly persistent, common as a cultivated plant, rare as a short-lived waif
Habitat: Disturbed areas
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Heads 30-50mm across in flower. Phyllaries and peduncles glabrous, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
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Habitat: Roadsides, fields, pastures, disturbed areas
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Involucres 10-13mm long, 8-14mm broad, bracts lanceolate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Rays light yellow, 1.5-2.5cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Rounded ear-like projections at leaf bases clasping the stem, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
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Habitat: Roadsides, fields, pastures, disturbed areas
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Most leaves conspicuously sagittate-clasping with pointed basal lobes, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Flower heads average about 3/4" across, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Involucres 8-13mm long, 6-14mm broad; bracts rarely glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Pappus bristles white, capillary, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Disturbed areas
Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas
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Involucres 7-12mm long, clothed with black trichomes and stipitate glands, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Nutlets lustrous black, columnar, 2-2.3mm long; pappus 4-6mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Leaves oblanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, leaf base cuneate to attenuate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Rays light yellow and 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Roadsides
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Plants stoloniferous, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
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Leaves nearly glabrous on the upper surface, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
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Heads 2-4+ in ± umbelliform to corymbiform arrays. Corollas yellow, per Flora of North America.
Habitat: Pastures, fields, roadsides, grassy balds
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There are several heads in a compact inflorescence, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Leaves densely & softly hairy on both sides, oblanceolate to elliptic, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Stem & involucres have conspicuous black-tipped glandular hairs, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides
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Habitat: Dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
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Rays golden-yellow, 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Peduncles usually stipitate-glandular. Bracts acute, about 1mm wide, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Leaves conspicuously purple-veined, mostly smooth or with hairy margins, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Nutlets lustrous black, columnar, slightly tapered apically. Pappus yellowish, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Dry to mesic forests, especially along dirt roads
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Leaves elliptic, base cuneate to attenuate. Basal leaves few or absent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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The flowers heads are small (1/2" wide or less), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Pappus yellowish to tan, 3-4mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
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Blooms in late spring-summer; except for H. venosum, our other Hieraciums don't begin till July, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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Lower stem strongly pilose; leaves weakly purple-veined, primarily basal, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
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Involucre glabrous or w short stipitate glands, but lacking long setae [bristles], per Weakley's Flora (2025).
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Considered to derive from hybridization between H. gronovii and H. venosum, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, dry forests and woodlands, woodland margins, roadsides
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Involucres 6-8mm long, 3-5mm broad, usually stipitate-glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Hieracium has only ray flowers (no disk flowers), and the rays are 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Leaves oblanceolate to elliptic, long pilose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Nutlets fusiform. Pappus tan, 4-6mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
Habitat: Flowerbeds, suburban woodlands, roadsides, disturbed areas, trail edges, hammocks, rocky woodlands, floodplains
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Basal leaves oblanceolate, pinnatisect to runcinate [as in Taraxacum], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Involucre 3-5mm high (vs. Crepis 5-12mm high), per Weakley's Flora (2023).
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Flower heads are small and composed of 10-20 ray flowers, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
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Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas)
Habitat: Roadsides, fields, other disturbed places
Habitat: Roadsides, fields, disturbed areas
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Nutlets all beaked, often glaucous; pappus pale tan, 8-10mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Leaves are basal, oblanceolate, and toothed or pinnatifid, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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Involucral bracts imbricate, in several series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Ray flowers yellow and numerous; disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
Habitat: Roadsides, fields, disturbed areas
Habitat: Roadsides, fields, other disturbed places
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Rays pale yellow, obviously shorter than the longest phyllaries, per Weakley's Flora.
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Ray flowers pale yellow; heads solitary on erect stalks, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Pappus dingy white, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
Habitat: Rich, moist forests
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Ray flowers orangish-yellow and numerous. Disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Basal leaves either entire or with teeth or lobes near the tapered base, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
Habitat: Cliffs and rock outcrops at medium to high elevations
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Leaves mostly basal, wider leaves sometimes coarsely pinnate-dentate near base, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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In Krigia, the involucral bracts are in 1 series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Flower heads bright yellow, solitary on leafless stalk (disc flowers absent), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
Habitat: Woodlands, roadsides, wet prairies, low damp meadows, disturbed areas
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The 4-20" tall scape has a terminal, solitary flower head 1.2 to 1.8" wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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Leaves smooth, glaucous, with tapering bases, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
Habitat: Rocky woodlands, roadsides, disturbed areas
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Krigia's involucral bracts are in a single series (vs. 2 in Taraxacum), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Leaf faces glabrous, eglandular or loosely glandular-villous, per Flora of North America.
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Flower heads 1-2" wide, solitary, consisting of ray flowers only, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Pappus of 5 scales and 5 bristles, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed places
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Compact flower heads are borne singly at the end of short axillary stalks, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
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The only leafy-branched Krigia of the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
Habitat: Dry and moist forests, roadsides, meadows, fields
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Ray flowers pale yellow, numerous; disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Lvs oblanceolate to lanceolate, entire to deeply dissected, whitish midvein, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
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Inner bracts in 1 series, outer bracts shorter & in several series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Nutlets cylindric, tapered to both ends, 5-grooved, pubescent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Roadsides, lawns, pastures, other disturbed sites
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Nutlets reddish-brown, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Disc flowers absent. Ray flowers yellow and bisexual, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
Habitat: Lawns, roadsides, urban areas, pastures, disturbed areas, trailsides, less commonly in a variety of less disturbed habitats
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Disc flowers absent. Ray flowers yellow and bisexual, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Each scape is hollow and bears a single flower head, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Leaves numerous in a basal rosette, deeply pinnatisect to barely lobed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Outer involucral bracts are reflexed and about as long as inner bracts, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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Fruits olive-brown achenes, pappus a tuft of white hairlike bristles, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).