Goatsbeard: Tragopogon dubius: Asteraceae
Goatsbeard © JLChristiansen, 1998
Description:
Flowering heads are yellow, consisting only of ray flowers. Disk flowers are absent. Involucral bracts are long, narrow, and clearly visible as they extend beyond the ray flowers. Leaves are long, narrow and grasslike. They occur individually on the stem and attach directly, without a petiole. As in the grasses (Family Poaceae), the veins of the leaves lie parallel to the leaf edges. The fruiting head, which bears a spherical cluster of billowy, tuft-like seeds, clearly resembles a large dandelion. The naked stamens and pistils, seen in the ray flowers of this species, falsely resemble disc flowers. Occurs in fields from June through July. Native to Europe.