Smooth cat's ear
Hypochaeris glabra
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
The yellow daisy of sandy poor soils, with a nearly hairless rosette and small heads that only open properly in the morning and close early.
Fields and pasture · Dunes and sand · Pine woods · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known assmooth cat's-ear
How to tell it
A rosette of cut leaves, smooth or nearly so, unlike common cat's ear, which is rough and very hairy. Slender branched leafless stems. Small heads, a centimetre across, the yellow rays barely clearing the bracts when closed. White latex when cut.
What it is confused with
Cat's ear
Hypochaeris radicata
Run a finger over the rosette: the common one is rough and covered in stiff hairs, this is smooth. And the common one has far larger heads, open all day. Neither is dangerous.
Open sheet →What it is for
No relevant use. It indicates sandy, acid, poor soil, and often grows beside hare's-foot clover and spotted rock rose, which say the same thing.