Cat’s-ear

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial rosette plant with a thick taproot. One or more branched flowering stems 20–60 cm tall grow from the rosette.

Leaf

In a flat rosette, 5–20 cm long, oblong with wavy-toothed to lobed margins; covered on both sides with stiff, rough hairs. When damaged, it oozes white milky sap.

Flower

Golden-yellow heads 2.5–4 cm across, made up of strap-shaped florets only; the outer ones are greyish green underneath. Between the florets are narrow, papery scales, a good identification feature. The heads open in sunny weather and close later in the day or when it rains.

Fruit/Seed

A ball of fluffy seeds like a dandelion clock. The seeds have a long beak and a parachute of feathery hairs that carries them on the wind.

Stem

Long, hairless, sturdy and almost leafless, with small scale-like bracts; often forked a few times and slightly thickened just below the heads.

Look-alikes

Dandelion has a hollow, unbranched stalk with a single head and hairless leaves. Autumn hawkbit looks very similar but has almost hairless, deeply lobed leaves and no scales between the florets. Lesser hawkbit has forked hairs on the leaves and unbranched stalks. Mouse-ear hawkweed has pale yellow heads, felted leaves and creeping runners.

Flowering: May–October · Pruning: June and September

Why grow it?

• Yellow flowers from May into October, even in a lawn that is mown now and then.
• An important pollen plant for wild bees that specialise in yellow composites, such as the pantaloon bee and the shaggy bees (Panurgus).
• Bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies visit the flowers too.
• Ideal for a flowery lawn or a thin verge on sand: it tolerates trampling and mowing.
• The young leaves were once eaten as a wild green, like those of dandelion.

Cat’s-ear: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: lawns, verges, dry to moderately moist grassland, dunes, heath, railway banks and open ground on sand and acid loam.
• It likes sunny, open places on poor to moderately rich, well-drained soil; it is most at home on sand.
• In the garden: full sun, in a flowery lawn, a thin verge, on a sandy bank or along a gravel path.
• In tall, dense grass on rich soil it disappears, because its flat rosette no longer gets enough light.

Goes well with

• Mouse-ear hawkweed: Pale yellow heads and silvery grey rosettes in the same dry, sandy places.
• Common bird’s-foot trefoil: Yellow pea flowers in the same thin verge, and food plant of the common blue.
• Sheep’s-bit: Sky-blue pompoms among the yellow, on poor sand.
• Sheep’s sorrel: Red-brown flower spikes on acid soil, and food plant of the small copper.
• Yarrow: White flat heads that complement the yellow in a flowery lawn.

Cat’s-ear: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy seed from a nursery specialising in native plants or as part of a mix for a thin, flowery lawn. Do not take plants from the wild.
2. Sow in March–May or in September on bare, weed-free soil. Scatter the seed thinly, rake it in lightly and firm it; it usually germinates within a few weeks.
3. In an existing lawn, first scrape open a few bare patches or lift small pieces of turf, then sow or plant there.
4. Plant young plants in spring or early autumn, 20–30 cm apart. Make sure the taproot points straight down.
5. Water in dry spells for the first few weeks; after that it needs no more help.

Care

Watering

Only after sowing or planting. With its deep taproot it survives long dry spells.

Feeding

Do not feed: on fertilised soil the grass grows too fast and cat’s-ear disappears.

Mowing

Mow a thin verge or hay meadow twice a year, at the end of June and in September, removing the cuttings. Mow a flowery lawn every 4–6 weeks and not too short; the flat rosette is then spared.

Self-seeding

Let some of the heads finish flowering and turn to fluff: it then sows itself on bare patches.

Digging out

If it grows where you do not want it, dig out the rosette with a narrow weeding tool and remove as much of the taproot as possible.

Tip: Mow your lawn a little less often and a little higher in summer: within a few weeks it will be full of yellow cat’s-ear flowers, busy with wild bees.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: June and September.

When: At the end of June and in September when mowing a verge or hay meadow; in a lawn, with the usual mowing.

How:

• Mow at a height of 5–8 cm: the flat rosette is then largely spared and quickly sends up new flower stems.
• Leave the cuttings for a few days so the seeds can drop, then remove them.
• Leave a strip or corner unmown each time, so there are always flowers left for the bees.

Caution: Preferably mow on a cloudy day or late in the afternoon, when the heads are closed and fewer bees are on them.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Collect the fluffy seed in summer as soon as the heads are dry, and sow straight away or in spring on bare ground. It germinates readily, without a cold period.

Self-sown seedlings

With its windborne seed it spreads by itself over bare patches in lawns and verges. Young rosettes can be moved while the taproot is still short.

Cat’s-ear: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• The leaf rosette stays green all winter, lying flat on the ground.
• Fully hardy, to about −25 °C.
• In mild autumns, odd heads sometimes keep flowering into November, a late source of pollen.

Diseases and pests

• Too much in the lawn: If you want a neat lawn, dig out the rosettes with a weeding tool. In a natural garden it is an asset.
• Disappears: In tall grass on rich soil it disappears. Mow and remove the cuttings to make the soil poorer.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in dry late summers; usually harmless. Leave it or remove affected leaves.
• Horses: Horses that eat a lot of cat’s-ear over a long period can develop a nervous disorder of the hind legs. Keep its share in horse pastures low.

Through the year

• March: The rosettes start growing again. Sowing is possible.
• April: Sow or plant on bare patches.
• May: First flowers.
• June: Full flower. First cut of the verge at the end of June; leave a strip.
• July: Flowering and first seed heads. Wild bees collect pollen.
• August: Flowering. Collect seed.
• September: Second cut; remove the cuttings. Sow.
• October: Last flowers.
• December: Green rosettes overwinter.

Did you know?

• The genus name Hypochaeris refers to pigs (Greek choiros), which were said to be fond of the roots; the Dutch name biggenkruid, ‘piglet herb’, echoes this.
• In Australia, New Zealand and North America it is an introduced species that has become very common in lawns and pastures.
• Like dandelion, the plant contains white milky sap, and like dandelion its seeds fly off on the wind with a parachute of hairs.