Lapsana communis (Common Nipplewort)
Also known as: | |
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Genus: | Lapsana |
Family: | Asteraceae (Aster) |
Life cycle: | annual |
Origin: | Europe, Asia |
Status: |
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Habitat: | part shade, shade; roadsides, waste areas |
Bloom season: | June - September |
Plant height: | 1 to 4 feet |
Wetland Indicator Status: | GP: FAC MW: FACU NCNE: FACU |
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): | |
National distribution (click map to enlarge): |
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Detailed Information
Flower:
Yellow dandelion type flower heads on long slender stalks in an airy panicle on many branching stems. Each flower is ¼ to ½ inch across and has 8 to 20 ray flowers (petals), with 5 teeth at the tip, and several styles split near the tip. Bracts are smooth and narrow.
Leaves and stem:
Leaves are 1 to 4 inches long, ¾ to 2½ inches wide, sparsely hairy especially along veins on the underside, with irregular, shallow teeth and slightly wavy edges. Lower leaves are generally egg-shaped with a pair of distinct small lobes at the base, on long, hairy, slightly winged stalks. Leaves near the flowers are smaller, sparse, less toothed, unlobed and more lance-like, with little or no leaf stalk. Stems are bristly hairy near the base, becoming smooth in the upper plant.
Fruit:
Fruit is a ribbed seed about 1/8 inch long, tan to golden brown at maturity, lacking a tuft of hairs.
Notes:
Nipplewort has become widely cosmopolitan throughout the Americas and Asia due to human activity. A sporadic weed of cultivated gardens and disturbed areas, it does not encroach readily into high grade habitats and is likely under reported within Minnesota.
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More photos
Photos by Peter M. Dziuk in Anoka county.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2011-06-23 13:09:27
Found 5 or 6 plants in my yard in an area we haven't cut the grass for a while. We live in a sandy soil area, and have lots of oaks.
on: 2024-01-06 20:46:44
There is a population of nipplewort along a gravel roadside in central Winneshiek County in far northeastern Iowa, so it seems reasonable to guess the plant may inhabit the adjacent counties in Minnesota (Fillmore, Houston, etc.), although I don't have an actual record of it in those counties.
on: 2024-04-21 12:33:54
A large patch of nipplewort came up between my yard and the apartment next door this year. Lots of mullein in this same patch.