Tragopogon porrifolius
Tragopogon mirus
common salsify, oyster plant, purple goat's beard, purple oyster salsify, purple salsify, salsifis cultivé, salsify, vegetable oyster
remarkable goatsbeard, remarkable salsify
apices straight (not recurved or coiled), faces usually glabrous.
apices straight (not recurved or coiled), faces initially floccose to tomentulose, soon glabrescent.
distally inflated.
distally inflated.
conic in bud.
conic in bud.
florets usually shorter than or equaling phyllaries;
corollas purple.
florets usually shorter than phyllaries;
corollas each proximally yellow and distally purple or brownish purple (giving each head a yellow “eye”).
= 12.
= 24.
Tragopogon porrifolius
Tragopogon mirus
Tragopogon porrifolius is occasionally cultivated in Europe and naturalized across much of North America. It grows typically in sites drier than those of T. pratensis and in sites shadier and/or moister than those of T. dubius. As currently circumscribed, it may not be monophyletic, and nomenclatural changes for the populations here may be required. In North America, T. porrifolius hybridizes with both T. dubius and T. pratensis (= T. ×neohybridus Farwell, described from North America, and T. ×mirabilis Rouy, described from Europe).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Tragopogon mirus is allotetraploid, formed from T. dubius and T. porrifolius. It originated (probably repeatedly) in the United States (eastern Washington, adjacent Idaho, and near Flagstaff, Arizona). F1 hybrids between T. dubius and T. porrifolius resemble T. mirus but are less robust, have low pollen stainability, and set few, if any, seeds. Tragopogon mirus does not occur in Europe, but T. dubius and T. porrifolius may occasionally hybridize there when sympatric.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
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