This is one of the many yellow flowers which might seem, to many people, to be tall Dandelions – this one can reach a height of 50 cm. There are so many wildflowers which have a Dandelion-like flower-head on a long stalk and very often it's only the experts who have any hope of identifying them. However, Cat's-ear is one wildflower which is less difficult than many of the others and this is because it has a few clear features which help. Firstly, just below the flower-heads is a slightly swollen part of the stem. The solitary bright-yellow flower-heads (25–40 mm across) are backed with numerous purple-tipped bracts ranked roughly in four-to-five rows below the circle of ray florets. Then it's easy to see that along the stem are a few scale-like bracts – I have been told that it is from these little features that the plant got its name. The hairy leaves are in a basal rosette, each leaf being lanceolate to oblong with wavy edges. This is a perennial plant of pastures, roadsides, laneways and dunes which flowers from June to September throughout Ireland. It is a native plant belonging to the Asteraceae family.
My first record of this plant is from Ballyteigue, Co Clare in 2009 and I photographed it in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal in 2010.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
