Pilosella piloselloides subsp. bauhinii
(Schult.) S.Braut. & Greuter King-devil HawkweedPerennial, rhizomatous or stoloniferous herb to 75 cm high; flowering stem with sparse, spreading, eglandular hairs and sparse to numerous stellate and glandular hairs towards capitulum. Leaves oblanceolate to lanceolate, hirsute; margins entire or denticulate; apex obtuse to acute; base cuneate; basal leaves 1.5–20 cm long, 0.5–3 cm wide. Inflorescence with 3–35 capitula; capitula 7–10 mm diam.; involucre campanulate, 5–8 mm long; bracts lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, olive or blackish-green with paler margins, with stellate, eglandular and glandular hairs. Florets 40–90, yellow usually without abaxial red stripe; ligules 6–9 mm long. Cypselas cylindric, 1.5–2 mm long, purplish-black; pappus 3–4 mm long. Flowers summer
HNF, VAlp. Native to Europe. An invasive weed first detected in Victoria in 2003 at the Rocky Valley Storage Dam near Falls Creek and since this time also found elsewhere on the Bogong High Plains.
Pilosella piloselloides is a troublesome and widespread weed in several overseas countries with similar alpine or cool climates as the Victorian Alps, including New Zealand, USA and Canada. In Victoria P. piloselloides has been declared a state prohibited weed.
