aka queendevil; Hieracium gronovii; Asteraceae (aster family)

Unlike the big sunflowers and coneflowers I’ve posted about in the last several days, this little plant grows in the dry soils along the rocky bluffs well above the river.  Like its close relative rattlesnake weed (fotd 5/31), this composite flower is comprised only of rays.

The flowering stem of hairy hawkweed grows only one to three feet tall, and might show a few small leaves; otherwise the plant has only a very low basal rosette of leaves:

It’s found from Quebec and Maine (or not; it’s listed as possibly extirpated in Maine) south through Texas and Florida, but not in Vermont and New Hampshire.

By the way, I swear I did not re-use the picture from May 31! These two plants are in the same genus and the flowers are almost identical.  Indeed, when I first spotted this plant I thought I’d found an extremely late-blooming rattlesnake weed; I only realized it was something different when I looked at the basal rosette of leaves.