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The Hawkweed oxtongue (Picris hieracioides ssp. hieracioides) belongs to Asteraceae (the Aster family). It is a winter annual herb that is distributed from Europe to Asia. It primarily grows in limestone grasslands, roadsides, and embankments, reaching heights of 20 to 120 cm. The stem is erect and highly branched. Basal leaves and lower stem leaves are narrowly elliptic to broadly lanceolate, with entire margins or coarse serrations. Middle and upper cauline leaves are lanceolate to linear and sessile. It blooms with yellow flower heads from June to October. The involucre is cylindrical-campanulate to ovate, with involucral scales bearing stiff, white-banded hairs with two hooks on the midrib. In Chinese, it is called "毛連菜" ((mao lian cai).
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