Meadow Salsify Weed | Slide Mouse
Cultural plant competitive grass or other cover crop.
Meadow salsify weed. Its large yellow flower head opens and twists slightly towards the sun each morning. Erect hairless often with whitish cast. Western salsify tragopogon dubius also known as goatsbeard or yellow salsify is an exotic plant of the asteraceae family that can be weedy in rangelands pastures conservation reserve program crp lands and roadsides throughout north america. Meadow salsify which is not swollen beneath the flower and common salsify which has purple flowers.
The root of western salsify is a thick fleshy taproot. It is a biennial sometimes annual sometimes perennial plant that starts out as a rosette of gray green leaves that are grass like in appearance. When growing as a biannual it over winters in the rosette stage. Both species produce extensive root systems which com pete with desirable grass species for water and nutrients.
Salslfy the weed problem meadow and western salsify seed lings become successfully estab lished over a wide range of sites including bare soil vegetation and deep litter gross and werner 1982. This is the beautiful wildflower meadow salsify or meadow goat s beard. This annual or biennial weed is a native of eurasia and north africa but was brought to north america about 1900 and is now common in most of the united states and canada where it is found in sunny disturbed sites such as along roadside and train tracks as well as in waste areas and abandon fields. Tragopogon pratensis common names jack go to bed at noon meadow salsify showy goat s beard or meadow goat s beard is a biennial plant in the family asteraceae distributed across europe and north america commonly growing in fields hence its name and on roadsides.
Prevention learn to identify plants. Erect biennial more or less branched when well developed from taproot. There are two other similar species. In the early afternoon the flower head closes again.
Regardless salsify is a fairly easy weed to identify. Eventually a flower stalk emerges adorned with more grass like leaves branching out to form around a half dozen flower heads. Plant with milky sap 15 80 cm tall. Western salsify is quite similar to the generally commoner meadow salsify t.
All parts of western salsify produces a milky sap when broken. Start monitoring early in the season. Biological no known biological control here. During the second season salsify produces an erect stem 18 to 24 inches tall.
I haven t seen it growing here before so am delighted with my find.