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• Tragopogon porrifolius

Tragopogon porrifolius — purple goat's beard

Facts

Purple goat's beard has ornamental, edible and herbal properties, and is widely introduced. As a vegetable, the plant is known as salsify or vegetable oyster, the roots supposedly tasting like oysters. Medicinal uses have included treatment of gall bladder obstructions, jaundice, arteriosclerosis, and high blood pressure.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there is one main cycle of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  at least some flower heads have bracts connected to one another at or near their bases

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)

  Bracts

  the bracts in separate cycles are similar or gradually changing from the outer to inner cycles

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  NA

  Disk flower number

  0

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  25–70 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  NA

  Inflorescence stem

  • hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence
  • the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  5–16

  Ovary beak

  there is a beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  • there are four to six lines or ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are seven to nine ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are ten or more ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  blue to purple

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  • 26-50
  • more than 50

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Rim at top of ovary

  the central flowers have a disk-shaped platform above the ovary

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are obviously swollen near the top, where they attach to the base of the flower head

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary beak length

  15–25 mm

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  10–25 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  the pappus hairs are attached to one another near the base

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are tan to dark brown

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs have smaller hairs along their sides

  Seed hair tuft length

  20–30 mm

  Seed hairs uniform

  there are two distinct lengths of pappus hairs

  Seed tuft scale number

  12–20

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade bloom

  there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  200–400 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is caudate (has a very long tail-like projection ending in a point)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  5–15 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Teeth per side of leaf blade

  0

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  • at least some of the hairs on the stem are tangled, matted or woolly
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae