Tragopogon dubius (Yellow Goat's Beard): Minnesota Wildflowers

Tragopogon dubius (Yellow Goat's Beard)

Plant Info
Also known as:	Yellow Salsify, Fistulous Goat's-beard
Genus:	Tragopogon
Family:	Asteraceae (Aster)
Life cycle:	biennial
Origin:	Europe
Habitat:	sun; dry fields, along roads
Bloom season:	May - September
Plant height:	1 to 3 feet
County distribution (click map to enlarge):
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Battle Creek Regional Park Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Single flower at the top of the plant and at the end of the few branching stems. Flowers are up to 2 inches across with many pale lemon yellow dandelion-type ray flowers (petals). The (usually) 13 green bracts that surround the flower are much longer than the petals.

The stem just below the bracts thickens to nearly as wide as the receptacle. The flowers open on sunny mornings and close by noon. The closed flowers resemble a thin pod, up to 5 inches long.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are grass-like blades, about ½ inch wide and up to 1 foot long, often folded lengthwise, toothless and hairless, gradually tapering to a pointed tip, clasping the stem. Stems are smooth, green or brownish, may branch near the base of the plant or have multiple flowering stems. The stems exude a milky sap when broken.

Fruit:

Seed head is a giant dandelion-type plume, 3 inches in diameter, with light brown hairs attached to the seed.

Notes:

Yellow Goat's-beard is probably found in every county in Minnesota, though there are no official records for a handful of counties. It is not as aggressive as many other non-natives, though it does invade prairie habitat easily enough and is often found scattered in sunny locations. When the sun hits the seed head, it glistens with a pale bronze color and is quite attractive. A similar species, Tragopogon pratensis (Meadow Goat's-beard), also non-native, has brighter yellow flowers, bracts that are as long as or shorter than the rays, and leaves that curl at the tip.

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More photos

Photos by K. Chayka taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, May-June 2009. Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk taken in Anoka County.

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Laura
on: 2008-06-26 09:29:14

Saw this in Stearns County in St. Cloud by Whitney Field and couldn't find it in my Wildflowers of Minnesota book.

Posted by: Laura
on: 2008-06-26 10:21:08

Sorry, I was mistaken. It is on page 353 of my Wildflowers of Minnesota book (by Stan Tekiela).

Posted by: K. Chayka
on: 2008-06-26 19:01:18

Laura, Stan's book is nice for beginners because it has some lovely photos in it. In fact, it was my first wildflower field guide and really helped spark my interest in native plants. When you're ready to expand your horizons, I recommend Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, available in most book stores. It uses illustrations instead of photos, which can actually make identification easier once you learn how to use the key.

Posted by: Daniel in SouthWoods
on: 2009-06-07 12:56:13

We have many plants in our orchard and earthen wall. Both are disturbed soils with heavy clay.

Posted by: Terri
on: 2009-06-09 12:08:19

Thank you for helping to identify the plant that randomly showed up on the edge of my flower bed. I have also seen it naturally scattered about at the Gateway Trail community garden in St. Paul.

Posted by: P.A. in Bemidji
on: 2009-09-13 23:35:56

I have a single one growing in the middle of my garden and my mother always tries to yank it. I like the way it looks though!

Posted by: Leah in Maplewood
on: 2010-02-08 11:27:40

We have several of these in our meadow and they often pop up in the lawn. They are beautiful and have great seed heads. I had assumed they were native because there is a nice photo of one on a MN tourist magazine.

Posted by: Gregg in Powderhorn Park, South Minneapolis
on: 2010-05-24 20:10:21

http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/spf/fhp/weed_book/pages/tragopogon.html is a particularly splendid photo of this, useful for identifying it. Was hoping it was native, but now I have a new enemy!

Posted by: dan in Minneopa State Park
on: 2010-07-03 07:09:26

The mapping tool was not available but I found many of them in Minneopa State Park in Blue Earth County which has not yet been highlighted. is it the county where the MN river turns back north and is shaped like a triangle.

Posted by: K. Chayka
on: 2010-07-07 09:34:33

Dan, if you are referring to the county distribution maps on the USDA Plants web site, just because a county is not highlighted doesn't mean the species isn't present there. The maps are known to be a bit outdated, but they are primarily created from plant specimen records at the UM Bell Herbarium. If nobody collects a specimen from a particular county, there is no official record of its existence.

There is no record of poison ivy in Ramsey county, but you can hardly walk in any woods in the county without wading through masses of it. ;)

Posted by: Robyn in Litchfield
on: 2011-06-13 23:24:01

Found this growing along Lake Ripley in Litchfield.

Posted by: James in Bemidji
on: 2011-07-04 15:17:24

By the road, running alongside Fox Lake, North of Bemidji.

Posted by: Bailey in West Ottertail County
on: 2011-08-09 20:12:07

I see this plant is not native to Minnesota, so I am wondering why Glendalough State Park requested voluteers to help spread the plant in an area of prarie restoration? I personally helped reseed this plant, and am confused about why we would reseed it when its not native.