Tragopogon pratensis

Meadow salsify, Meadow Salsify

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Meadow salsify is a naturalized biennial found in the Klamath Ranges, California high desert, Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in generally moist, disturbed places at elevations of 900 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces bright yellow ligule flowers in urn-shaped heads 12 to 30 millimeters long. Growing 1.5 to 8 decimeters tall with slightly hairy stems when young that become smooth with age, it develops long linear leaves that are somewhat hairy initially and later turn glabrous. Its leaves extend 2 to 4 decimeters long, typically with tips that recurve or coil, presenting a distinctive curved appearance. The mature fruit develops to 15 to 25 millimeters with a whitish pappus, creating delicate seed heads in late summer.

Habitat: Generally +- moist, disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 900-1800 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH, MP

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