King Devil Hawkweed (H. praealtum)
King devil hawkeed is distinguished by erect, pale green to red-green leaves, with smooth edges and sparse long hairs on the leaf margins and mid-rib of the underside of the leaf. Leaves are longer than for H. pilosella, usually ca. 3-5 x 1 cm in normal situations. When shaded they can extend to ca. 10-15 x 2 cm. It has a clustered multi-flowered head, with a deeper yellow colour compared with H. pilosella. Hieracium praealtum has an upright, tufted growth form and patches are more open,. It produces fewer stolons than H. pilosella and these are usually stouter and shorter (ca. 5 - 10 cm, occasionally up to ca. 20 cm).
It occurs in Marlborough, Canterbury and is particularly abundant in the wetter Otago run country. It can occupy a wide range of sites, with an apparent preference for lower altitudes in areas with nil or low grazing pressure. King devil is a coloniser of disturbed open sites and can increase vegetatively very quickly if grazing pressure is removed. It is less tolerant of grazing than mouse-ear (Espie 1994).
