HAWKWEED, or Hieracium, L. a native genus of perennial plants, comprising forty-six species, the principal of which are:
1. The Pilosella, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, which grows in dry meadows, pastures, and on walls; its flowers possess the singular property of opening in the morning, and closing early in the afternoon: they blow from May to September. This species differs from other lactescent plants, being less bitter, and more astringent, on which account it was formerly esteemed in the cure of blood-spitting.—It is considered as noxious to sheep, which are not partial to it; and though eaten by goats, it is refused by horses and cows.
2. The auricula, Narrow-leaved Hawkweed, or Umbelled Mouse-ear, thrives on mountains, in the county of Westmorland, and flowers in the month of July. It deserves to be cultivated on the borders of gardens where bees are kept; for, according to Bechstein, it furnishes them with an abundance of wax and honey.