Hieracium murorum

Hieracium murorum

The wall hawkweed (Hieracium murorum L., 1753) is a herbaceous species belonging to the Asteraceae family.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota Domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Subarign Tracheobionta,
Spermatophyta superdivision,
Magnoliophyta Division,
Magnoliopsida class,
Subclass Asteridae,
Asterales Order,
Asteraceae family,
Subfamily Cichorioideae,
Cichorieae tribe,
Subtribe Hieraciinae,
Genus Hieracium,
H. murorum species.
The terms are synonymous:
– Hieracium sylvaticum (L.) L .;
– Hieracium subbifidiforme (Zahn) P.D.Sell et C. West.
Within this species, many subspecies are recognized, of which those present in Italy are reported:

– Hieracium murorum subsp. adenobifidum Wilczek & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. amaurocymum (Touton & Zahn ex Dalla Torre & Sarnth.) Greuter;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. anisobasis Gottschl.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. aspreticola (Jord. ex Boreau) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. atropaniculatum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. atrovirens (Froel.) Raimondo & Di Grist.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. basalticiforme Korb & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. bifidiforme (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. boetzkesii Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. brachylobosum J. Vetter & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. calvifrons Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. cardiophyllum (Sudre) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. circumstellatum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. cirritoides (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. cirritoidiforme Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. crepidanthes Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. crepidiflorum (Polák) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. denticulatifrons J. Vetter & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. erucifolium (Arv.-Touv.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. exotericum (Jord. ex Boreau) Sudre;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. flavescens (Evers) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. fritschii (Pernh.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. gentile (Jord. ex Boreau) Sudre;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. gigantolobum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. glandellatum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. graminicolor (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. graminochlorum Fen. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. grypharioides Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. hemigrypotes Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. heteroserratum Gottschl.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. infralobatum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. infrasericatum Murr & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. integratum (Dahlst.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. kassanum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. longilacerum Murr & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. lorynsicum Krafft & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. marmarolense Pamp. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. megaleiobium Pamp. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. melanopsiforme Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. melanosphaeroides Romieux & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. microspilon (Sudre) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. mundellum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. nemorense (Jord.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. nivimarginatum Gottschl.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. oblongum (Jord.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. odontobium Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. oxyodontopsis (Touton & Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. persinuatum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. perviride Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pleiotrichum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. polygonium Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. psammogenoides Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudobifidiforme Pamp. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudodiaphanoides Gerstl. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudofritschii Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudomedianum Besse & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudosilvularum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. pseudosubulatidens Pamp. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. ramosiforme (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. samnaunicum (Zahn) Gottschl.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. semicontractum P. Rossi & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. semisilvaticiforme Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. semisilvaticum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. semisilvularum K. Harz & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. serratifolium (Jord. ex Boreau) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. sparsum (Jord. ex Sudre) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subbifidiforme Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subcoriifolium Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subcrassum (Dahlst.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subditivum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subinfrasericatum P. Rossi & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subintegerrimum Gottschl.;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subnemorense (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. subsemisilvularum (Zahn) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. sylvivagum (Jord. ex Boreau) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. sylvularum (Jord. ex Boreau) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. tofanae Pamp. & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. torticeps (Dahlst.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. triangulilacerum P. Rossi & Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. valdefastigiatum (Zahn ex Dalla Torre & Sarnth.) Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. variilobum Zahn;
– Hieracium murorum subsp. wulfenii Zahn.

Etymology –
The term Hieracium comes from the Greek ἱεράκιον hierácion, the name of these plants in Dioscorides that Gaius Pliny the Second maintains that it derives from ἱέραξ, -ακος hiérax, -acos falco, sparrow hawk, because these birds of prey feed on it to obtain their famous acute sight.
The specific epithet muro rum is the plural genitive of murus muro, mura: of the walls.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
The wall hawkweed is a plant with origins and distribution in the Euro – Siberian or even West-Asian area and also present in some cold areas of North America.
In the Alps it is present everywhere; on the other European reliefs connected to the Alps it is found in the Vosges, the Jura Massif, the Central Massif, the Pyrenees, the Dinaric Alps, the Balkan Mountains and the Carpathians.
Elsewhere, such as in North America and Australia, it is considered an introduced species.
In Italy it is a common species and present throughout the territory.
Its typical habitat is that of broad-leaved and coniferous woods, bushes and stony ground in general; but also the parks, on the walls and in the rock shelters. The preferred substrate is both calcareous and siliceous with neutral pH, medium nutritional values ​​of the soil which must be dry.
This plant can be found up to 2,000 – 2,200 m a.s.l.

Description –
Hieracium murorum is a perennial herb up to 60 cm tall.
It has a rhizomatous oblique root but not stoloniferous, with secondary roots.
The stem is erect, finely hairy, with glandular and stellate hairs, branched in the upper part, naked or with 1-2 linear leaves.
The basal leaves are in rosette, green, purplish on the underside, petiolate, oval, lanceolate or elliptical, whole or slightly toothed-incised at the base, finely hairy, truncated, cordate or sub-stranded at the base, narrowed to the petiole.
The inflorescence is corymbose composed of 3-5 flower heads; yellow, flat flowers, all ligulate with unequal ligules, shell with acute scales at the apex and with abundant glandular hairs, inferior ovary.
It blooms from May to August.
The fruits are cylindrical hypsele of 2,5-3 mm, brown-blackish, surmounted by pappi with 30-40 bristles, straw-colored, of 4-5 mm, arranged ± in two series.

Cultivation –
The wall hawkweed is a plant that grows spontaneously in its habitats and is pollinated by insects (entomogamous pollination).
Reproduction basically takes place through the pollination of flowers and the seeds that are formed by falling to the ground (after being transported for a few meters by the wind thanks to the pappus, therefore with anemocora dissemination) are dispersed mainly by insects such as ants (myrmecoria dissemination) .

Customs and Traditions –
The wall hawkweed of the woods is a spontaneous plant that also has medicinal uses. The entire plant is used for this purpose.
The uses of this plant mainly belong to past times.
This species is a very complex taxonomic aggregate that includes many (over three hundred) apomictic entities characteristic of even very restricted mountain environments, probably deriving from a few species hybridized during the glaciations and differentiated by becoming apomictic. The polymorphism is due to the leaf margin, more or less lobed or toothed and to the presence and distribution of hairs of different shapes and types (simple, glandular, starry).

Preparation Method –
Of the wall hawkweed the entire plant is used for medicinal purposes even if there is little data in this regard.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora of Italy, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Warning: Pharmaceutical applications and alimurgical uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; therefore no responsibility is taken for their use for curative, aesthetic or food purposes.