Tragopogon dubius

Big Salsify, inflorescence ( basket)

The Great Salsify ( Tragopogon dubius ), also called Great Salsify, is a species of the subfamily Cichorioideae within the sunflower family ( Asteraceae).

Features

The perennial plant is 20 to 60 inches high. At the base of the stem often find remnants of last year's leaves. The leaves are narrow lanceolate, acuminate and entire. The stems of the flower heads are thickened hollow and top forward clavate. The Great Salsify flowers from May to July. The bright yellow inflorescences (basket ) have a diameter of 4 to 6 centimeters. They open in the morning at eight clock and close by midday again. The eight to twelve bracts are not constricted above the ground and significantly longer than the florets. The cups stems are greatly enlarged to the fruit time. The long- beaked fruits are 20-40 mm long; the pappus are feathery.

Dissemination

The lime-and heat-loving species grows on waste places, roads, dams, in sunny herbaceous communities, on dry grass, for example in disturbed Semi-arid Brome grass, in mesophilic, halbruderalen couch grass dry corridors, sweet clover and snake head hallways and on railway premises. The dissemination area is located in Central and Southern Europe.

In Germany the species is quite rare and are mainly heat- favored regions settled in the central part, for example, in the Rhine- Main area. In the north German lowlands of the Great Salsify missing over long distances.

In Austria, the United Salsify occurs in de provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland, Upper Austria and fickle in Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol on the hill and under montane zone. In the Pannonian region in Austria, the species is common, rare and otherwise only unstable (eg near railways ) or naturalized locally.

Demarcation with similar types

The frequently encountered in Central Europe meadow salsify ( Tragopogon pratensis ) also has yellow flowers, but no thickened clavate basket handles.

In contrast, the originally from the Mediterranean area salsify ( Tragopogon porrifolius ), similar to the Great Salsify, a thickened club shaped basket handle, but blooms burgundy and has more blue-green leaves on.

The typical " goatee " the Great Bock Barts

Basket just before the seeds ripen (CUT)

Flower with ripe seeds that are dispersed by the wind

Pappus with pinnae, these are interwoven

Ripe achenes (CUT)