Yellow salsify
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Tragopogon dubius Scop.
Common name(s): yellow salsify, western salsify, common salsify, goatsbeard, yellow goat’s beard, western goat’s beard, fistulous goat’s beard, wild oyster plant
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- flowering, mid-June
Description:
– annual/biennial
– flowers close at midday unless cloudy
– flower bracts are longer than flower rays
-large fruits with a feathery pappus for dispersal
-leaves are
- simple
- alternate
– may be confused with T. pratensis; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-meadows
-fields
Natural History:
-native to Europe
-introduced to North America in the 1900s
Sources:
Go Botany. “Tragopogon Dubius Scop.” Tragopogon Dubius (Fistulous Goat’s Beard, Yellow Salsify): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/tragopogon/dubius/.