COMPOSITE. 



475 



Britain, it appears occasionally in cornfields, and sometimes in waste 

 places near the sea. Fl. summer and autumn. 



XXVIII. SALSIFY. TRAGOPOGON. 



Biennials or perennials, with tap-roots, and long, narrow, grass-like, 

 entire leaves, broader and sheathing at the base. Involucre of 8 to 

 12 bracts, nearly equal, and slightly united at the base. Achenes nar- 

 rowed at the top into a long beak, bearing a pappus of feathery hairs. 



A genus not very numerous in species, spread over Europe and 

 temperate Asia, easily known among the British Ligulates by the 

 foliage. In this respect it resembles Scorzonera, a numerous exotic 

 genus, of which one species, the S. hispanica, is often cultivated in our 

 gardens for the same purposes as the Salsify. 



Flowers yellow 1. Meadow S. 



Flowers purple 2. Purple S. 



1. Meadow Salsify. Tragopogon pratense, Linn. (Fig. 570.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 434. T. minor, Bab. Man. Yellow Goafs-beard.) 



Stem erect, slightly branched, 1 to 2 

 feet high. Radical and lower leaves 5 

 to 8 inches long or even more, shortly 

 dilated at the base, glabrous and slightly 

 glaucous ; upper leaves shorter, w T ith 

 the dilated base longer in proportion. 

 Peduncles long, thickened at the summit, 

 each with a single head of yellow flowers. 

 Involucral bracts narrow-lanceolate, 1 

 to 1^ inches long. Florets sometimes 

 not half so long, but varying from that 

 to the full length of the involucre. 

 Achenes long and striate, the slender 

 beak as long as the achene itself, the 

 hairs of the pappus long and very fea- 

 thery. 



In meadows and rich pastures, through- 

 out Europe and western Asia, except the 

 extreme north. Abundant in Britain, 

 extending far north into Scoland. Fl. 

 early summer. It is often divided into two or more species, according 

 to the relative length of the florets and involucres. 



Fig. 570. 



