GOAT'S BEARD 67 



Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratense, L.) 



This plant is apparently quite a modern one, known only from its 

 present distribution, Europe, N. and W. Asia as far east as the 

 Himalayas. 



It is found in Great Britain in the Peninsula, Channel, Thames, 

 Anglia, and Severn provinces. In S. Wales it is absent from Radnor 

 and Cardigan, Merioneth in N. Wales, but occurs in the Trent, Mer- 

 sey, H umber, Tyne, and Eakes provinces, except the Isle of Man. In 

 the W. Lowlands it is found generally, except in Wigtown and Ren- 

 frew; in the E. Lowlands generally, except in Peebles, Selkirk, Lin- 

 lithgow; in the E. Highlands generally, except in Mid and N. Perth, 

 Banff, and Easterness; in Clyde Isles, W. Sutherland, and Caithness, 

 or from Lanark and Caithness to the S. Coast. It is rare in Scotland. 

 In Ireland and the Channel Islands it is also native. 



Goat's Beard is found in fields and meadows, especially in upland 

 pastures laid to grass. It is found, moreover, more or less commonly 

 by the side of pathways, and is common on railway-banks, and on 

 allotment gardens and waste ground. But it is quite native in grass 

 meadows, occurring in some abundance here and there. 



Goat's Beard is an erect plant, with a cylindrical stem, with 

 sheathing leaves arising mainly from the base, and branched. The 

 leaves are tapering, narrowly elliptical, acute, and with the base 

 expanded, clasping the stem, entire, smooth. 



The flowerheads are greenish-yellow, and may be equal to, or less 

 than the involucre, as here, or half as long (as in T. minus]. The 

 flower-stalks are cylindrical. The pappus hair has a stalked feathery 

 down. 



The Goat's Beard is ' 2 ft. high at the most. It is in bloom in 

 June. It is perennial, propagated by division. 



The flower closes at noon according to some, but the best time to 

 see it wide open is at night or early in the morning (3 a.m.). The 

 structure of the flowerhead is much like that of Taraxacum, the style 

 being hairy above, with narrow lobes. The flowers when open are 

 yellow and conspicuous, but are not likely to be visited by insects 

 because of their crepuscular habit, i.e. open at night, and are more 

 frequently self-pollinated on that account. 



The fruits are provided with a tuft of hairs which assist in dis- 

 persing them by the wind, in the same way as the Dandelion, but 

 forming a bigger "clock". 



