Herbs, perennial. Stem solitary to few fascicled, branched or unbranched. Leaves petiolate or sessile, margin entire, deeply toothed, or rarely lobed. Basal leaves rosulate, withered at anthesis, or absent. Stem leaves few to numerous [or 1 or reduced and bractlike or absent]. Synflorescence corymbiform, paniculiform, racemiform, or pseudocymiform, sometimes capitulum solitary. Capitula with numerous florets. Involucre campanulate, or basally turbinate, (0.8-)0.9-1.2[-2] cm. Phyllaries in several irregularly or regularly imbricate rows, linear-lanceolate. Florets yellow [or rarely white]. Achene cylindric, ellipsoid, or narrowly obconic, 2.5-5 mm, with 8-10[-14] equal ribs apically confluent in an obscure ring, apex truncate. Pappus white, dirty white, dirty yellow, or pale yellowish brown, of scabrid bristles.

Hieracium hololeion has been shown by molecular phylogenetic analyses (see N. Kilian et al. in V. A. Funk et al., Syst. Evol. Biogeogr. Compositae, 352-353. 2009) to be a member of subtribe Crepidinae (see there under Hololeion). Also Hieracium coreanum, as was first stated by H. S. Pak (Fl. Coreana 7: 378. 1999) and Sennikov and I. D. Illarionova (Bot. Zhurn. 86(3): 37-59. 2001), is actually a member of subtribe Crepidinae, belonging to Crepis.

About 800 species (broad species concept) with over 5,000 apomictic taxa (described as microspecies or subspecies): N Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America; six species (one endemic) in China.

(Authors: Shi Zhu (石铸 Shih Chu); Gter Gottschlich)