Below are 37 plants that, like dandelions, are members of the Aster/Sunflower/Composite family and can have flower heads with yellow ray flowers and no disc flowers.
Clicking or hovering over any of the pictures below will display a larger image; clicking the plant's name will provide information about the plant pictured.
Look for it in fields, forests, disturbed areas)
Gall-of-the-earth, Three-leaved Rattlesnake-root
Nabalus trifoliolatus
Look for it in forests
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Leaves lobed or dissected below, much reduced upward and less cut or lobed, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
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Involucre smooth with 7-9 principal bracts and 9-13 ray flowers per head, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
Look for it in mountain forests, grassy balds, at high elevations
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Inflorescence thyrsoid, the branches very short. Phyllary tips usually black, per Weakley's Flora.
Tall White Lettuce, Tall Rattlesnake-root
Nabalus altissimus
Look for it in forests
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Petioles winged; leaf blades usually ovate or triangular, often deeply 3-lobed, per Flora of North America.
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Usually 5 florets in each head, subtended by 5 smooth principal bracts, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Cypselae subcylindric, subterete; pappi usually whitish or pale yellow, per Flora of North America.
Lion's-foot Rattlesnake-root, Gall-of-the-Earth
Nabalus serpentarius
Look for it in forests
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Inner bracts minutely bristly, outer narrowly lanceolate. Rays yellow-white, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Involucre has 8 principal bracts w a few long coarse hairs, oft black-dotted, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
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Principal leaves usually evidently lobed, per Weakley's Flora.
Prickly Lettuce
Lactuca serriola
Look for it on roadsides, disturbed ground, pastures
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Mostly smooth-stemmed with copious fine prickles on leaf margins and midrib, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Involucres 10-15mm long, 3-5mm broad. Bracts imbricate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Heads are ligulate (having only ray flowers), small, and yellow-flowered, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Nutlets brown, oblanceolate, 5-ribbed on each face; pappus white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Willowleaf Lettuce
Lactuca saligna
Look for it in fields, on roadsides, disturbed ground, perhaps associated with circumneutral soils
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American Wild Lettuce, Canada Lettuce
Lactuca canadensis
Look for it in fields, on roadsides, disturbed ground
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Orange-yellow flowers extend slightly from urn-shaped involucral cylinders, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
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Many pale to deep yellow flowers in each head, but involucres < 1/2" high, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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A smooth sometimes glaucous plant. Leaves variable but without spiny margins, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Cypselae brown, ± flattened, elliptic, beaks ± filiform; pappi white, per Flora of North America.
Look for it in forests and along forest edgesTall Blue Lettuce
Lactuca biennis
Look for it in pastures, along roadsides, forest edges, thickets
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Flowers typically blue, but yellow in one form. Panicle branches short, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
Field Sowthistle, Perennial Sowthistle
Sonchus arvensis var. glabrescens
Look for it in disturbed areas
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Heads 30-50mm across in flower. Phyllaries and peduncles glabrous, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
Field Sowthistle, Perennial Sowthistle
Sonchus arvensis var. arvensis
Look for it in disturbed areas
Prickly Sowthistle, Spiny-leaf Sowthistle
Sonchus asper
Look for it on roadsides, in fields, pastures, disturbed areas
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Rounded ear-like projections at leaf bases clasping the stem, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
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Involucres 10-13mm long, 8-14mm broad, bracts lanceolate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Rays light yellow, 1.5-2.5cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Annual Sowthistle, Common Sowthistle
Sonchus oleraceus
Look for it on roadsides, in fields, pastures, disturbed areas
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Most leaves conspicuously sagittate-clasping with pointed basal lobes, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Flower heads average about 3/4" across, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Involucres 8-13mm long, 6-14mm broad; bracts rarely glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Pappus bristles white, capillary, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Mouse-ear Hawkweed
Pilosella officinarum
Look for it in pastures, along roadsides, in disturbed areas
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Nutlets lustrous black, columnar, 2-2.3mm long; pappus 4-6mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Rarely more than one flower head per scape. Rays light yellow and 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Involucres 7-12mm long, clothed with black trichomes and stipitate glands, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Leaves oblanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, leaf base cuneate to attenuate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Field Hawkweed, Yellow King-devil, Meadow Hawkweed
Pilosella caespitosa
Look for it in pastures, fields, roadsides, grassy balds
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There are several heads in a compact inflorescence, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Leaves densely & softly hairy on both sides, oblanceolate to elliptic, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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Stem & involucres have conspicuous black-tipped glandular hairs, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
Smooth Hawkweed, Glaucous King-devil, Tall Hawkweed
Pilosella piloselloides
Look for it in fields, pastures, roadsides
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Rattlesnake Hawkweed, Rattlesnake Weed, Veiny Hawkweed
Hieracium venosum
Look for it in dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
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Rays golden-yellow, 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Peduncles usually stipitate-glandular. Bracts acute, about 1mm wide, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Leaves conspicuously purple-veined, mostly smooth or with hairy margins, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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Nutlets lustrous black, columnar, slightly tapered apically. Pappus yellowish, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Panicled Hawkweed, Leafy Hawkweed, Allegheny Hawkweed
Hieracium paniculatum
Look for it in dry to mesic forests, esp along dirt roads
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Leaves elliptic, base cuneate to attenuate. Basal leaves few or absent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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The flowers heads are small (1/2" wide or less), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Pappus yellowish to tan, 3-4mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Maryland Hawkweed
Hieracium marianum
Look for it in dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
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Considered to derive from hybridization between H. gronovii and H. venosum, per Weakley's Flora.
Hairy Hawkweed, Beaked Hawkweed
Hieracium gronovii
Look for it in sandhills, dry forests, woodland margins, roadsides
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Involucres 6-8mm long, 3-5mm broad, usually stipitate-glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Hieracium has only ray flowers (no disk flowers), and the rays are 5-toothed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Leaves oblanceolate to elliptic, long pilose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Nutlets fusiform. Pappus tan, 4-6mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Asiatic Hawksbeard, Youngia, Japanese Crepis, Oriental False Hawksbeard
Youngia japonica
Look for it on roadsides, in disturbed areas, on trail edges
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Basal leaves oblanceolate, pinnatisect to runcinate [as in Taraxacum], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Involucres 5-6mm long, 1.5-2.5mm broad; inner bracts linear, outer very short, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Flower heads are small and composed of 10-20 ray flowers, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
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Look for it in pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas)
Hairy Cat's-ear, Spotted Cat's-ear, Cat's Ear Dandelion
Hypochaeris radicata
Look for it on roadsides, in fields, disturbed areas
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Nutlets all beaked, often glaucous; pappus pale tan, 8-10mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Leaves are basal, oblanceolate, and toothed or pinnatifid, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
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Involucral bracts imbricate, in several series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Ray flowers yellow and numerous; disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
Look for it in roadsides, fields, disturbed areasVegetable Oyster, Yellow Salsify, Western Salsify, Yellow Goatsbeard
Tragopogon dubius
Look for it on roadsides, in fields, other disturbed places
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Rays pale yellow, obviously shorter than the longest phyllaries, per Weakley's Flora.
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Ray flowers pale yellow; heads solitary on erect stalks, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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Pappus dingy white, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
Orange Dwarf-dandelion, Two-flower Dwarf-dandelion, Two-flower Cynthia
Krigia biflora var. biflora
Look for it in rich, moist forests
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Ray flowers orangish-yellow and numerous. Disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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Basal leaves either entire or with teeth or lobes near the tapered base, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
Mountain Dwarf-dandelion, Mountain Cynthia
Krigia montana
Look for it on cliffs & rock outcrops, at medium to high elevations
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Leaves mostly basal, wider leaves sometimes coarsely pinnate-dentate near base, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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In Krigia, the involucral bracts are in 1 series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Flower heads bright yellow, solitary on leafless stalk (disc flowers absent), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
Colonial Dwarf-dandelion, Potato Dwarf-dandelion
Krigia dandelion
Look for it in rocky woodlands, roadsides, disturbed areas
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Leaves smooth, glaucous, with tapering bases, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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The 4-20" tall scape has a terminal, solitary flower head 1.2 to 1.8" wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
Virginia Dwarf-dandelion
Krigia virginica
Look for it in rocky woodlands, roadsides, disturbed areas
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Krigia's involucral bracts are in a single series (vs. 2 in Taraxacum), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Leaf faces glabrous, eglandular or loosely glandular-villous, per Flora of North America.
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Flower heads 1-2" wide, solitary, consisting of ray flowers only, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
Opposite-leaf Dwarf-dandelion
Krigia cespitosa
Look for it in fields, roadsides, disturbed places
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Compact flower heads are borne singly at the end of short axillary stalks, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
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The only leafy-branched Krigia of the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
Carolina False-dandelion
Pyrrhopappus carolinianus
Look for it in dry and moist forests, roadsides, meadows, fields
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Ray flowers pale yellow, numerous; disk flowers absent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
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Lvs oblanceolate to lanceolate, entire to deeply dissected, whitish midvein, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
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Inner bracts in 1 series, outer bracts shorter & in several series, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Nutlets cylindric, tapered to both ends, 5-grooved, pubescent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Red-seeded Dandelion
Taraxacum erythrospermum
Look for it in roadsides, lawns, pastures, other disturbed sites
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Nutlets reddish-brown, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Disc flowers absent. Ray flowers yellow and bisexual, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Common Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
Look for it in lawns, roadsides, urban areas, pastures, disturbed areas, trailsides, less commonly in a variety of less disturbed habitats
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Disc flowers absent. Ray flowers yellow and bisexual, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Each scape is hollow and bears a single flower head, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Leaves numerous in a basal rosette, deeply pinnatisect to barely lobed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Outer involucral bracts are reflexed and about as long as inner bracts, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
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Fruits olive-brown achenes, pappus a tuft of white hairlike bristles, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.