Burke: Tragopogon mirus vs. Tragopogon dubius

	Tragopogon mirus	Tragopogon dubius
	remarkable goatsbeard	yellow salsify
Habit	Biennial or occasionally annual, the stem usually branched, 3-10 dm. tall, the juice milky.	Biennial from a fleshy taproot, or occasionally annual, the stem usually branched, 3-10 dm. tall, the juice milky.
Leaves	Leaves elongate, uniformly tapering from base to apex, entire, not recurved, mostly glabrous but with some loose, wooly hairs in the axils.	Leaves elongate, uniformly tapering from base to apex, entire, not recurved, mostly glabrous but with some loose, wooly hairs in the axils.
Flowers	Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads; involucral bracts in a single series, equal, broad at the base and tapering to a point, about 13, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, barely surpassing the ligulate corollas, elongating to 4-7 cm. in fruit; ligules brownish-purple with a yellow base; pappus of a single series of whitish, uneven-length, plumose bristles, the plume branches interwebbed.	Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads; involucral bracts in a single series, equal, about 13, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, distinctly surpassing the pale, lemon-yellow, ligulate corollas, elongating to 4-7 cm. in fruit; pappus of a single series of whitish, uneven-length, plumose bristles, the plume branches interwebbed.
Fruits	Achenes 2.5-4 cm. long, the body narrowed to the stout beak.	Achenes slender, 25-36 mm. long, gradually narrowed to the stout beak.

	Tragopogon mirus	Tragopogon dubius
Flowering time	May-June	May-September
Habitat	Dry, open areas in the foothills.	Roadsides, fields, meadows, wastelots, overgrazed areas, and other disturbed open areas at low to middle elevations.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in south-central and eastern Washington; eastern Washington and adjacent western Idaho, also occurring in Arizona. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	T. dubius, T. floccosus, T. miscellus, T. porrifolius, T. pratensis	T. floccosus, T. mirus, T. miscellus, T. porrifolius, T. pratensis
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Tragopogon mirus

Tragopogon dubius

remarkable goatsbeard

yellow salsify

Habit

Biennial or occasionally annual, the stem usually branched, 3-10 dm. tall, the juice milky.

Biennial from a fleshy taproot, or occasionally annual, the stem usually branched, 3-10 dm. tall, the juice milky.

Leaves

Leaves elongate, uniformly tapering from base to apex, entire, not recurved, mostly glabrous but with some loose, wooly hairs in the axils.

Flowers

Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads;

involucral bracts in a single series, equal, broad at the base and tapering to a point, about 13, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, barely surpassing the ligulate corollas, elongating to 4-7 cm. in fruit;

ligules brownish-purple with a yellow base;

pappus of a single series of whitish, uneven-length, plumose bristles, the plume branches interwebbed.

Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads;

involucral bracts in a single series, equal, about 13, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, distinctly surpassing the pale, lemon-yellow, ligulate corollas, elongating to 4-7 cm. in fruit;

pappus of a single series of whitish, uneven-length, plumose bristles, the plume branches interwebbed.

Fruits

Achenes 2.5-4 cm. long, the body narrowed to the stout beak.

Achenes slender, 25-36 mm. long, gradually narrowed to the stout beak.

Tragopogon mirus

Tragopogon dubius

Flowering time

May-June

May-September

Habitat

Dry, open areas in the foothills.

Roadsides, fields, meadows, wastelots, overgrazed areas, and other disturbed open areas at low to middle elevations.

Distribution

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in south-central and eastern Washington; eastern Washington and adjacent western Idaho, also occurring in Arizona.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]