Turf Weeds was developed to provide weed management information and newsearch reports to turfgrass managers.  This site contains information on weed identification, chemical and cultural management of weeds, and current topics relevant to weed management in lawns and professional turf.  Turf Weeds was created  by Dr. Shawn Askew, Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Weed Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.
Home

Weed ID

Publications

Dictionary

Links

FAQs

Login

About us

Plant Description:
Name:common catsear
Scientific Name:Hypochaeris radicata
Family:Asteraceae
Type:Broadleaf
Lifecycle:Perennial
Habit:Common catsear occur in lawns, pastures, gardens, seed fields, and waste places.
Leaves:The leaves of this perennial plant are of basal rosettes. The leaves are rough-hairy and lobed, or wavy-margined.
Leaf Arrangement:Alternate
Characteristics:The plant is poisonous and believed to be the cause of Australian Stringhalt in horses.
Flower Seed Head:The yellow flowers occur in heads that are one to 1.5 inches in diameter. The hollow, sparsely branched flowering stems contain a white, milky juice, and are 0.75 to two feet tall. The yellow flowers occur in heads that are one to 1.5 inches in diameter.
Seed Fruit:The fruits are long-beaked and tipped by a circle of plume-like bristles.
Where Found:Common catsear comes from Europe, but is now widespread in the United States and southern Canada. Abundant in western Washington and western Oregon, one population has been reported on Washington State University campus in Pullman.

Control OptionsRelated PlantsTerms and Definitions

Additional Images:
This site uses JavaScript 1.1 and should be viewed with Microsoft IE or Netscape versions 4.0 or higher. If you experience problems, check to see that your browser is JavaScript compliant or download the appropriate plug-in. To access the member area, click here. Contents © 2001-2003, Shawn Askew, Turfgrass Weed Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.