Tragopogon dubius Yellow Salsify Flower Fruit Seed
by Karon Melillo DeVega
Title
Tragopogon dubius Yellow Salsify Flower Fruit Seed
Artist
Karon Melillo DeVega
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The beautiful fruit/seed head of the Yellow Salsify.
Native to most of North America, photographed in Montana.
Sometimes called: Western Goat's Beard, Goat's Beard, Salsifis mejeur, western salsify, wild oysterplant, yellow goat's beard.
Blooms May - July.
Habit - Herb
Duration: Annual, Biennial
Origin: Introduced from Europe
Distribution: Occuring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; widely distributed throughout most of North America.
Habitat: Drier areas at low to mid-elevations.
Species Description:
General: Biennial from a fleshy taproot, or occasionally annual, the stem usually branched, 3-10 dm. tall, the juice milky.
Leaves: Leaves elongate, uniformly tapering from base to apex, entire, not recurved, mostly glabrous but with some loose, wooly hairs in the axils.
Flowers: Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads; involucral bracts in a single series, equal, about 13, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, distinctly surpassing the pale, lemon-yellow, ligulate corollas, elongating to 4-7 cm. in fruit; pappus of a single series of whitish, uneven-length, plumose bristles, the plume branches interwebbed.
Fruits: Achenes slender, 25-36 mm. long, gradually narrowed to the stout beak.
Location photographed: Mission Mountains, Montana near St. Ignatius.
Canon EOS 50D Macro
© Karon Melillo DeVega
All rights reserved
"Tragopogon dubius (western salsify, western goat's-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow salsify, yellow goat's beard, goat's beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify) is a species of Salsify native to southern and central Europe and western Asia and found as far north and west as northern France. Although it has been reported from Kashmir and India, recent evidence suggests that specimens from these areas may be a different species. Western Salsify has been introduced into North America where it has become widespread, being reported from all the continental United States except for a few in the far south-east, and all provinces of Canada except Newfoundland and the northern territories.
Like most salsifies, the Western Salsify grows as an annual or occasionally biennial forb, reaching a height of typically 20-60 cm but sometimes almost a metre. It grows typically in warm, sheltered spots with moist soil. Its yellow flower is 4-6 cm in diameter and is likely to be seen in late spring or early summer. The flowers open early in the morning and often close up by late afternoon. Later the plant forms a seed head that resembles that of the dandelions but is distinctly larger. The seeds themselves (known as achenes) are 2-4 cm long but featherweight, weighing about 8 mg each on average. There is some natural variation between the central and peripheral achenes in the seedhead, with the peripheral ones being generally darker and heavier, and having a higher concentration of phenolic compounds; this may enhance their survival potential.
Western Salsify is quite similar to the generally commoner Meadow Salsify, T. pratensis, but the bracts which show behind the flower, a distinctive feature of salsifies, are longer and more noticeable. Although not particularly closely related to Meadow Salsify or the Common Salsify or Oyster Plant (T. porrifolius), the Western Salsify hybridises readily with both, and in North America its hybrids have given rise to the new alloploid hybrid species T. mirus and T. miscellus.
Because Western Salsify is a widespread plant, it has a large number of alternative common names. They include Western Goat's Beard, Wild Oysterplant, Yellow Salsify, Yellow Goat's Beard, Meadow Goat's Beard, Goat's Beard, Goatsbeard, Common Salsify, or Salsify. Some of these are also, or more commonly, used for other species, and are better avoided. A synonym, Tragopogon major, may also be encountered.
Unlike some other species of salsify such as the Oyster Plant Tragopogon porrifolius, Western Salsify is not generally regarded as edible, though the root can be eaten (raw or cooked) and so can the young stems. No uses in herbal medicine are commonly known. It is regarded as invasive in most states of the USA and in some Canadian provinces such as Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta." (information source quote: wikipedia.org)
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July 12th, 2013
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