Salsify's beautifully symmetrical flower gives way to a huge, puffy silver/white seed head which is really more well known than the flower.  Salsify’s roots are edible and for this reason it was introduced to America by early Europeans and has since spread widely.  In the Four Corners area Salsify is common in wild areas, farm fields, and city lots.  Leaves are narrow and long, plants are straight and up to several feet tall, and flowers open from spring into fall.

"Tragos" is Greek for "goat" and "pogon" for "beard", thus giving another common name, "Goat’s Beard".

The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1753 and this species was first collected near the Adriatic Sea.

Foothills, montane. Openings, woodlands, fields. Spring, summer, fall.
Horse Creek Trail, August 29, 200.

Foothills, montane. Openings, woodlands, fields. Spring, summer, fall.
Horse Creek Trail, August 24, 2004.

Two brown seeds are topped by the filamentary webbing (the pappus hairs) that carries them on the wind.

Tragopogon pratensis occupies slightly higher altitudes than T. dubius, its ray flower are flattened and serrated at the tip, and the phyllaries (as shown in the pictures below) are edged in maroon.  Both species are found in many U.S. states and are generally considered noxious weeds.

Linnaeus named this species in 1753.