Cretan weed
Hedypnois cretica
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
The yellow daisy whose stalk thickens beneath the head as the fruit ripens, until it is club-shaped. That is the mark separating it from other yellow field daisies.
Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Scrubland · Dunes and sand
Also known asCrete hedypnois, scaly hawkbit
How to tell it
A small branched plant covered in rough hairs. Elongated leaves, toothed or shallowly cut at the edge. Yellow heads one to two centimetres, and the stalk just beneath them thickens visibly over time, which is unique among the yellow field daisies. White latex.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
No relevant use. It is dry pasture forage and among the commonest daisies on southern fallow, and it is worth it as practice: the thickened stalk is a mark you can see without a lens and it does not fail.