Mouse-ear hawkweed is a perennial weed in the Asteraceae (daisy) family native to Europe but it has spread rapidly and aggressively to North America. It is found growing in meadows, disturbed sites, or in lawns reaching 8 inches tall and wide. It resembles a dandelion but with lighter yellow flowers. The leaves are also different– they are covered with hairs, resembling a mouse's ears, and grow close to the ground. It spreads by above-ground runners (stolons), or through its wind-dispersed seeds often growing in large colonies. It grows in well-drained to dry depleted soils and is not bothered by heat or humidity making it able to take over and displace native plants easily. Control is by hand removal, making sure you remove the stolens. Do not mow as chopping the plant up allows it to spread. Solarization for a year is helpful. Apply nitrogen fertilizers as mouse-ear hawkweed prefers poor soils and the surrounding vegetation can take over. Lastly, herbacides can be used. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: This plant is weedy and aggressive and is listed as invasive in OR, WA and MN.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.