Distribution

Orange hawkweed is native to northern and central Europe, occurring primarily in mountain meadows and hillsides [108]. It was introduced in Vermont by 1875 as a garden ornamental [102] and has been planted many times subsequently. Orange hawkweed has repeatedly escaped cultivation [108].

As of this writing (2010), orange hawkweed has a wide but discontinuous distribution in North America. Its distribution is most continuous from southern Canada and New England south to the mid-Atlantic states and west through the Great Lakes region to the Pacific Northwest. Its native distribution in Europe and current distribution in the United States suggest that orange hawkweed has the greatest potential for establishment in cool, subhumid to humid sites in the northern regions of the United States [108]. Orange hawkweed is also invasive in Australia [105] and New Zealand [48,51]. Plants Database provides a distributional map of orange hawkweed.