Burke: Tragopogon porrifolius

	Tragopogon porrifolius
	oyster plant, purple salsify
Habit	Glabrous biennial, 4-10 dm. tall, often branched, with milky juice.
Leaves	Leaves elongate, up to 30 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, tapering gradually from the base.
Flowers	Heads solitary at the ends of branches, the peduncles enlarged and hollow under the heads; involucral bracts in a single series, equal, 5-11, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, distinctly surpassing the purple, 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 stout, 2.5-4 cm. long, the body 10-16 mm. long, abruptly contracted to the long, slender beak.

	Tragopogon porrifolius
Flowering time	April-August
Habitat	Roadsides, fields and waste places, usually where moist.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	T. dubius, T. floccosus, T. mirus, T. miscellus, T. pratensis
Web links	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 porrifolius

oyster plant, purple salsify

Habit

Glabrous biennial, 4-10 dm. tall, often branched, with milky juice.

Leaves

Leaves elongate, up to 30 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, tapering gradually from the base.

Flowers

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

involucral bracts in a single series, equal, 5-11, 2.5-4 cm. long in flower, distinctly surpassing the purple, 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 stout, 2.5-4 cm. long, the body 10-16 mm. long, abruptly contracted to the long, slender beak.