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Youngia japonica (L.) DC.

Oriental Hawkweed
Synonym: Crepis japonica (L.) Benth

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Description

Youngia japonica is an annual or biennial herb, usually 10–60 cm tall, producing white milky latex. It forms a basal rosette of leaves, while the flowering stems are slender, erect, and sparsely branched. Basal leaves are oblanceolate to lyrately pinnatifid, whereas upper leaves are smaller, lanceolate, and sessile. Flower heads are small, yellow, and arranged in loose branched panicles. All florets are ligulate. Fruits are narrow, ribbed achenes with a slender beak and a white pappus of numerous fine bristles.

Diagnostic Characters

Vegetative
Basal rosette of lobed leaves with slender flowering stems containing milky latex.
Floral
Numerous small yellow ligulate flower heads arranged in loose panicles.
Fruit & Seed
Narrow beaked achenes with a conspicuous white pappus.

Distribution

Native range: Tropical and subtropical Asia.

Introduced range: Widely naturalized in Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

In Pakistan: Common throughout Pakistan, particularly in cultivated land, gardens, lawns, and moist disturbed habitats.

Phenology

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Flowering
Fruiting
Flowering: February–October Fruiting: March–November

Ethnobotany & Uses

Food Uses
Young leaves are occasionally eaten as a leafy vegetable in parts of Asia.
Medicinal Uses
Traditionally used for treating fever, wounds, inflammation, and digestive disorders.
Ecological Importance
Serves as an early nectar source for bees and other pollinating insects.
Agricultural Importance
Frequently occurs as a minor weed in cultivated fields and gardens.
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Where it grows on campus

This species is on the campus floristic list but was not pinned during the GPS mapping survey, so it has no map records yet.

Taxonomic Notes

Youngia japonica is distinguished by its basal rosette, slender branched stems, small yellow flower heads, and narrow beaked achenes with a white pappus. It resembles species of Crepis and Lactuca but differs in its smaller capitula and delicate habit. The accepted name follows Flora of Pakistan, Plants of the World Online (POWO), and World Flora Online (WFO).