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Tragopogon dubius Scop.

Yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify

Yellow salsify is native to southern and central Europe and western Asia. It was introduced in the early 1900s to North America, where it has spread widely. In many areas it is considered an invasive. It grows almost anywhere there is ample sunlight and medium to dry conditions, though plants are usually scattered, not densely clustered.

Plants: Plants are biennial. They appear as a basal rosette in the first year, producing a stem 8–24″ (20–60 cm) high and flowering in the second year. Broken stems and leaves exude a milky latex.

Leaves: Lanceolate, alternate, with no teeth, ⅜–12″ (1–30 cm) long, tapering to a sharp tip.

Flowers: Flowers are 1½–2″ (4–6 cm) in diameter, forming from tall, tapered, blue-green buds. Flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon. They appear from late spring to early summer. Sharp, starlike green bracts appear behind the flowerhead, and are longer and more prominent than in other salsifies.

Fruits: Produces a round pappus (seedhead) up to 4″ (10 cm) around, similar to dandelions. The seedhead is like a pincushion filled with of achenes, each ⅞–1½″ (2.5–4 cm) long, equipped with its own tiny “pararchute.”

Habitats: Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields.

Edibility: Roots are technically edible, cooked or even raw, but the plant is not generally consumed. The roots are said to taste similar to oysters, hence the common name wild oysterplant.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Go Botany

Wikipedia

Minnesota Wildflowers

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

Tragopogon dubius Scop. ssp. major (Jacq.) Voll.
Tragopogon major Jacq.

 

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

7/9/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 15 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

7/9/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 6 × 4½″ (15 × 11 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 19 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 4 × 4″ (10 × 10 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/21/2026 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/21/2026 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia · ≈ 8 × 6″ (21 × 14 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (15 × 23 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

7/9/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 5 × 3″ (12 × 8.3 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 10 × 15″ (26 × 39 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

5/24/2010 · Eastern Promenade, Portland, Maine · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (47 × 36 cm)

Tragopogon dubius (yellow goatsbeard, yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat’s-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat’s beard, goat’s beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify)

7/9/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassMagnoliopsidaDicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
SubclassAsteridaeA large class that encompasses asters
OrderAsteralesFlowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
FamilyAsteraceaeThe aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
GenusTragopogonDerived from two Greek words tragos meaning “goat” and pogon meaning “beard,” suggested by its prominent, feathery hairs when in seed
SpeciesdubiusDoubtful, as in the sense of not conforming to a pattern

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About this map...

Tragopogon dubius description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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