TRAGOPOGON PORRIFOLIUS

Family:- COMPOSITAE

Common Names:- Wild salsify

Synonyms:- Tragopogon porrifolius subsp. australis, Tragopogon sinuatus.

Meaning:- Tragopogon (Gr) Goat's-beard, A name used by the Greek philosopher

Theophrastus, referring to the pappus of the fruit.

Porrifolius (L) Leek-leaved.

General description:- Hairless or bearing tufts of woolly hairs, biennial with a

cylindrical rootstock.

Stems:-

1) 20-50 cm.

Leaves:-

1) Broad-parallel-sided, widened at the base.

Flowers:-

1) Peduncles, inflated.

2) Involucral, bracts c. 8.

3) Ligules c. ½ as long as involucral bracts, deep violet. Beak gradually widened

into body of the achene.

Fruit:-

1) Achenes, 3-4 cm, squamose-muricate; beak scarcely clavate.

2) Pappus, shorter than the achene.

Key features:-

1) Leaves entire.

2) Involucral bracts in 2 or more rows.

3) Pappus of 1 row of hairs.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Sandy ang gravelly coastal flats, field margins, olive groves, roadsides

and other dry, open habitats. 0-800(-1200) m.

Distribution:- Widespread and common throughout the Mediterranean. Widespread

and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- End of Mar to mid-June

Photos by:- Steve Lenton