Vol. III.] 



I. Tragopogon pratensis L. Yellow 

 Goat's-beard. Meadow Salsifj'. 



(Fig. 3528.) 



Tragopogon pratensis I.. Sp. PI. 7S9. 1753. 



Stem branched, i,'+°-3° high. Leaves 

 keeled, tapering from the broad, more or less 

 clasping base to a very long acuminate tip, 

 the lower sometimes 10' long and \' wide; 

 peduncles thickened at the top; heads \'- 

 2%' broad; bracts of the involucre about S, 

 lanceolate, acuminate, shorter than or equal- 

 ling (rarely exceeding) the jxllow rays; 

 marginal achenes striate, smooth or rough- 

 ened. 



In fields and waste places. New Brunswick to 

 New Jersey, Ontario, Ohio and Manitoba. Nat- 

 uralized from Kurope. June-Oct. Called also 

 Buck's-beard, Noon-flower, Star of Jerusalem, 

 Noontide, Joseph's flower, Go-to-bed-at-noon. 



CHICORY FAMILY. 



269 





2. Tragopogon porrifolius L. 



Oyster Plant. Salsify. Purple Goat's 



Beard. (Fig. 3529-) 



Tragopogon porrifolius L. Sp. PI. 789. 1753. 



Taller, sometimes /^%° high. Peduncles 

 very much thickened and hollow for i to 3 

 inches below the heads; heads 2'-/^' broad, 

 very showy; bracts of the involucre linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, usually much longer 

 than the purple rays; achenes sometimes 2' 

 long, the outer ones covered with scale-like 

 tubercles, especially on the ribs below. 



In fields and waste places, Ontario to New 

 Jersey, west to Minnesota atid Nebraska, mostly 

 escaped from gardens, where it is common. 

 Native of Europe. Called also Vegetable Oyster, 

 Jerusalem Star, Nap-at-noon, Oyster-root. Nat- 

 uralized- as a weed on the Pacific Coast. The 

 root is the familiar vegetable known as Oyster 

 Plant. An apparent hybrid between this and 

 the preceding species has been noticed at New 

 Brunswick, N. J. June-Oct. 



k.9. 



II. MALACOTHRIX DC. Prodr. 7: 192. 1838. 



Annual or perennial, branching or scapose herbs, with alternate or basal, mostly pinnat- 

 ifid leaves, and long-peduncled panicled or solitary heads of yellow or rarely white flowers. 

 Involucre campanulate, its principal bracts in i or 2 series, equal or nearly so, with sev- 

 eral series of shorter exterior ones. Receptacle flat, naked or bristly. Rays truncate and 

 5-toothed at the apex. Anthers sagittate at the base. Style-branches slender. Achenes 

 oblong or linear, glabrous, io-15-ribbed, 4 or 5 of the ribs usually more prominent than the 

 others, truncate, or margined and 4-5-toothed at the summit. Pappus-bristles in 2 series, 

 the inner naked or minutely serrulate, slender, coherent at the base and deciduous in a ring, 

 the outer few (1-8), more persistent, or all deciduous in our species. [Greek, soft-hair, in 

 allusion to the soft pappus.] 



About 15 species, natives of the western and southwestern United States and lower California. 



