[Hawksbeards: The Genus Crepis in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Gray Hawksbeard, Intermediate Hawksbeard, Limestone Hawksbeard
Crepis intermedia
Synonym: Psilochenia intermedia
Gray hawksbeard as seen on slopes above the Klickitat River in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area of south-central Washington............May 31, 2009.
Characteristics:
Gray hawksbeard is a one or two-stemmed perennial from a taproot,
arising from 20-70 cm in height. Its herbage is varied, often being densely
gray-haired (like thin felt) to sparsely gray haired. The basal and stem leaves
vary from 10-40 cm long, and are pinnatifid with many entire to toothed lobes.
The inflorescence contains from 10-60 flower heads, with each
head having 7-12 ray flowers. The involucre is 10-16 mm tall, sometimes smooth
but more commonly gray haired. The outer bracts (barely seen at the base of
the involucre in the photo above) are very short in contrast to the long inner
bracts (which normally number from 7-8).
Habitat:
Gray hawksbeard is a plant of dry, open places in the foothills
and plains.
Range:
Gray hawksbeard is found east of the Cascade Mts. from central
Washington south to California and eastward to Colorado, Wyoming and then north
to Alberta.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it is found between 400'-2600'
east of approximately the Little White Salmon River.
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Close-up views of the flower heads of gray hawksbeard as seen on slopes above the Klickitat River in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area of south-central Washington...........May 31, 2009.
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Close-up views of the flower heads and leaf of gray hawksbeard as seen on slopes above Canyon Creek in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area of south-central Washington...........May 31, 2009.
Gray hawksbeard blooming on steep, rocky slopes above the west side of the Klickitat River, upstream from the waterfall, Klickitat Wildlife Area.........May 3, 2015.
Gray hawksbeard from Haystack Butte, Columbia River Gorge.......May
1995.
Paul Slichter