California Invasive Plant Council

Hypochaeris glabra

Common names: smooth cat's-ear

Hypochaeris glabra (smooth catsear) is an annual flowering herb (family Asteraceae) found throughout California, except in the Great Basin and desert. Smooth catsear prefers disturbed places, such as roadsides, orchards and landscaped areas, as well as grasslands, woodland and scrub. It is commonly found in overgrazed rangeland. The yellow flowers of smooth catsear look similar to dandelion flowers, and produce seeds that are dispersed by the wind, soil movement, and by clinging to animals and humans. Cultivation can be used to control smooth catsear, but grazing, mowing or burning can encourage growth and seed germination. Although smooth catsear is widespread, its impacts appear to be relatively minor.

Cal-IPC Rating: Limited

Cal-IPC Assessment

Plant Assessment Form - Information gathered by Cal-IPC on the impacts, rate of spread, and distribution of invasive plants in California. Does not include management information.

Weed RIC Management Notes

• Management Notes - Information on management techniques and effectiveness from the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Weed Research & Information Center.

Cal-IPC Newsletter Articles

There are no newsletter articles associated with this species yet.

Cal-IPC Symposium Presentations

Presentations are linked where available. Where a presentation is not available, find more information by reading the abstract in the Cal-IPC Symposia Archive.

• Does horse manure harbor invasive plants? Quinn, Lauren; Davis, Bonnie; Kolipinski, Mietek; Ghosh, Sibdas (2006)
• Exotics in the southern California vernal pool ecosystem. Bauder, Ellen T. (1996)
• The effects of fire frequency and firebreaks on the abundance and species richness of exotic plant species in coastal sage scrub. Giessow, Jason; Zedler, Paul (1996)

Other Hypochaeris glabra Information

• CalPhotos - Images of plants taken mostly in California.
• Calflora - See the distribution of this species on Calflora's map of California.
• CalWeedMapper - Distribution information with ability to determine regional priorities.
• Jepson Online Interchange for California Flora - Information on taxonomy, biology, and distribution from UC Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.
• USDA PLANTS Database - Federal database with information on identification and distribution, and links to websites in individual states.