532 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



pointed. Achenes reddish brown, long-beaked like those of the 

 Dandelion, with a very plumose pappus to help in their distribu- 

 tion. (Fig. 367.) 



Means of control 



Deep cutting with hoe or spud while in first flower, making certain 

 that no seed is allowed to mature. 



MEADOW SALSIFY 

 Tragopogon pratensis, L. 



Other English names: Yellow Goat's Beard, 

 Buck's Beard, Morning Sun, Noon-flower, 

 Nap-at-noon, Go-to-bed-at-nopn. 



Introduced. Biennial or perennial. Propa- 

 gates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : June to September. 



Seed-time: July to October. 



Range : New Brunswick to Manitoba, south- 

 ward to New Jersey, Ohio, and Michigan. 



Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and 

 waste places. 



This plant springs from a slender, deep- 

 boring taproot, somewhat fleshy. Stem 

 one to three feet tall, round, smooth, light 

 green, slender, usually with several branches, 

 held very erect. Leaves alternate, linear, 

 keeled, clasping at base, and with long- 

 pointed tips ; the lowermost perhaps a foot 

 long, the topmost not exceeding two inches ; 

 at maturity the edges of the leaves become 

 in\olute and tips curve inward. Grazing 

 animals dislike its bitter, milky juice, and 

 usually leave it unmolested to reproduce 

 itself. . Heads solitary, terminal, golden 

 yellow, nearly two inches broad, the rays 



five-notched at the tip, with the pointed 

 FIG. 368. Meadow , ., , . . . . . 



Salsify (Tragopogon pra- bracts of the involucre in a single row, united 

 term's), x i. at base and about as long as the rays; the 



