Scorzonera hispanica

Spanish salsify, viper's grass, Viper'S Grass

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Spanish salsify is a naturalized perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern coastal California in open fields at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow flowers with occasional purple-tinged undersides in heads 2 to 3 centimeters wide. Growing 25 to 100 centimeters tall with a vertical rootstock, it develops sparsely woolly stems that are few-branched and leafy. Its leaves are 15 to 40 centimeters long, linear to ovate-elliptic with wavy margins and occasional teeth. The fruit is 10 to 15 millimeters long with strongly ribbed outer surfaces and dirty white pappus bristles.

Habitat: Open fields

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.