Orange Hawkweed is a flowering plant of the Aster family native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe, where it is protected in several regions. Orange Hawkweed is widely grown as an ornamental plant in gardens for its very decorative flowers. It has been introduced into Australasia and North America and escaped from gardens and is considered an invasive species in some areas. It is found across Canada and the north of the U.S., reaching more in the south on the coasts. The plant is easily removed, until it seeds back, by plowing or salting, and it cannot be controlled by mowing because it regularly reproduces vegetatively. It is on the noxious weeds and/or quarantine lists of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and regions of British Columbia, with cultivation usually prohibited. In Alberta, it is not considered a noxious weed except locally. In Australia, the plant is considered a noxious weed in Tasmania and it is quarantined from the country. It has been recorded at Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, Falls Creek and Mount Buller in Victoria and Fern Tree and Snug in Tasmania. In New Zealand, the plant is closely watched and attempts at control are made.

There is currently no commercial applications for orange hawkweed.

Within the realm of rational and holistic medicine, there is currently no known uses for orange hawkweed.

Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that plants should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.

 

There currently is no information on the edibility of orange hawkweed.

Orange hawkweed is suitable for light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, and prefers well-drained soil. Orange hawkweed can grow in nutritionally poor soil and is suitable for acidic and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Soil Conditions
Soil Moisture
Sunlight
Notes:

 

Orange hawkweed is a is a low-growing plant with shallow fibrous roots and a basal rosette of elliptical to lanceolate leaves 5cm to 20cm long and 1cm to 3cm wide. The flowering stem is usually leafless or with just one or two small leaves. The stem and leaves are covered with short stiff hairs (trichomes), usually blackish in colour. The stems may reach a height of 60 cm and have 2–25 capitula (flower heads), each 1omm to 25mm in diameter, bundled together at the end of short pedicels. All parts of the plant exude a milky juice. The flowers themselves come in a range of colours from a deep rust-orange to a pure yellow and often show striking gradients of colour. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Apomictic. The plant is self-fertile. The plants propagates through its wind-dispersed seeds, and also vegetatively by stolons and shallow rhizomes.

Plant Height	30cm to 60cm
Habitat	Fields, Roadsides, Clearings
Leaves	5cm to 12cm long, lanceolate rosette
Leaf Margin	Ciliate
Leaf Venation	Pinnate
Stems	Hairy Stems
Flowering Season	June to August
Flower Type	Medium sized ray flowers
Flower Colour	Orange with yellow centres
Pollination	Apomictic
Flower Gender	lowers are hermaphrodite and the plants are self-fertile
Fruit	Small tufted seeds
USDA Zone	4A (-31°C to -34°C) cold weather limit

No known health risks have been associated with orange hawkweed. However ingestion of naturally occurring plants without proper identification is not recommended.

INVASION ALERT Orange hawkweed is a highly invasive species and is banned by many jurisdictions for deliberate cultivation. Check with local conservation authorities before attempting to cultivate this species.

-Click here- or on the thumbnail image to see an artist rendering, from The United States Department of Agriculture, of orange hawkweed. (This image will open in a new browser tab)

-Click here- or on the thumbnail image to see a magnified view, from The United States Department of Agriculture, of the seeds created by orange hawkweed for propagation. (This image will open in a new browser tab)

Orange hawkweed can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following five names:

Devil's Paintbrush	Grim-The-Collier	Tawny Hawkweed	Fox-And-Cubs
King Devil

Orange hawkweed can be translated into the following select languages:

Arabic		Bulgarian		Chinese (Sim)
Croatian		Czech	jestřábník	Danish
Dutch		Esperanto		Estonian
Finnish		French	épervière	German	Habichtskraut
Greek	Χιεράτσιο	Hebrew	ההירציונים	Hungarian
Italian		Japanese		Korean
Low Saxon		Lithuanian	vanagių	Norwegian
Persian		Polish		Portuguese
Romanian		Russian	ястребинка	Slovak	jastrabník
Spanish		Swedish		Tagalog
Turkish		Ukrainian	Нечуйвітер	Vietnamese

The information provided in this conservation assessment has been provided by the Natureserve Database in conjunction with various federal, provincial, state, county, district, regional, and municipal governments as well as public and private conservation authorities. Information in this section is accurate from the last time this article was updated.
	Orange hawkweed has no conservation status as it is considered an exotic and or invasive species in North America.

The MIROFOSS database offers free printable garden tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify plant samples in a garden. Click on the tags shown on the the screen or -click here- to download a full size jpeg image for an orange hawkweed identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Description / Application	Peterson, Roger Tory; McKenny, Margaret (1968). A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston. ISBN 0-395-18325-1.
Description	Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia (2002). "Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum)"
Folklore	Edsall, Marion (2007-12-15) [1985]. Roadside Plants and Flowers A Traveler's Guide to the Midwest and Great Lakes Area.
Image Rendering	USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Environment	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. pp 415-420 ISBN 0-375-40232-2
Physical Identification	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. pp 415-420 ISBN 0-375-40232-2
May 30, 2015	The last time this page was updated
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