Crepis pygmaea

Crepis pygmaea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Crepis
Species:	C. pygmaea
Binomial name
Crepis pygmaea L.

Crepis pygmaea (commonly pygmy hawksbeard)^[1] is a species of flowering plant in the genus Crepis in the family Asteraceae.

The pygmy hawksbeard grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches a height of 5 to 15 centimetres (2.0 to 5.9 in). The stems are arching and ascending, mostly branched, one or more heads, white tomentose or glabrous, often tinged with purple.^[2] The plant has few leaves. The above-ground parts of the plant are hairy.^[2]

The lower leaves are heart-shaped and usually long-stemmed. The upper leaves are irregularly pinnate with a very large end section and small side sections.^[2] The underside of the leaf is often tinged with purple.

The flowering period extends from July to August. The cup-shaped inflorescence has a diameter of about 2 to 3 centimetres (3⁄4 to 1+1⁄4 in) and contains only ray florets. The bracts are bell-shaped, white, and 10 to 15 millimetres (3⁄8 to 5⁄8 in) long.^[2] The fruits are 4 to 6 millimetres (3⁄16 to 1⁄4 in) long. The calyx is 7 to 10 millimetres (1⁄4 to 3⁄8 in) long and white.^[2]

The chromosome number is 2n = 8 or 12.^[3]

The pygmy hawksbeard occurs in the Pyrenees and the western Alps, in Spain, Andorra, France, Switzerland, and Austria.^[4] The plant thrives on moist, coarse scree slopes at elevations of 1,500 to 2,900 metres (4,900 to 9,500 ft).

• Finkenzeller, Xaver (2002). Alpenblumen. Erkennen & bestimmen (in German). München: Mosaik. ISBN 3-576-11482-3.
• Fischer, Manfred A; Adler, Wolfgang; Oswald, Karl (2005). Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol (in German). Vol. 2nd revised and expanded. Linz: Land Oberösterreich, Biologiezentrum der Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseen. ISBN 3-85474-140-5.