Also called oyster-flower or goat’s-beard. There are three similar species, all naturalized from Europe; this one can be distinguished by the “peduncle upwardly enlarged below the head,” as Fernald’s revision of Gray explains. We can see what that means in the picture below: note how the flower stem—the “peduncle”—thickens as it goes up toward the base of the flower head.
These plants were growing in a gravely patch of ground beside Banksville Road in Banksville.
Also listed as T. major, and there are various other common names, including goat’s-beard (of which the genus name “Tragopogon” is a literal translation into Greek) and oyster-flower. Two similar species of yellow Salsify grow in our area; this seems to be more common and prefers gravely waste places. The plants shown here were growing among the litter in a gravel roadside in Banksville. Fernald’s revised edition of Gray gives us a feature to look for to distinguish this species: “peduncle upwardly enlarged below the head.” The “peduncle” is the stem that carries the flower; note the way it swells toward the developing seedhead in the picture below.
The leaves are grasslike at the base of the plant, a bit broader along the stem; the flowers are followed by huge-dandelion-like seedheads nearly as big as a closed fist.
