''Tragopogon'', also known as goatsbeard or salsify, is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the family
Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
. It includes the
vegetable
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...
known as
salsify, as well as a number of common wild flowers.
Salsifies are
forb
A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without woo ...
s growing as
biennial or
perennial plant
In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...
s. They have a strong taproot and milky
sap. They generally have few branches, and those there are tend to be upright. Their leaves are somewhat grass-like. Flower colour varies within the genus, with some yellow species, and some bronze or purple. Seeds are
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...
s and are borne in a globe like that of a
dandelion
''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...
but larger, and are dispersed by the wind.
The salsifies are mostly natives of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, but several species have been introduced into
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and have spread widely there. There is one species sometimes considered native to North America, ''
Tragopogon mirus'', but it is in fact a hybrid of two non-native species.
Some of the more common species of ''Tragopogon'' are known, in the regions where they are most common, by the common names goat's beard, goatsbeard, salsify, or common salsify, without further qualification. These names are therefore inherently ambiguous, and best avoided, or reserved for the genus collectively. In the species list below, the first common name given is the one that seems to be most widely used for that species and is not in significant use for any other species.
The vegetable called salsify is usually the root of the purple salsify, ''
Tragopogon porrifolius
''Tragopogon porrifolius'' is a species of plant. It is commonly known as purple or common salsify, oyster plant, vegetable oyster, Jerusalem star, Jack go to bed, goatsbeard, or simply salsify. These last two names are also applied to other sp ...
''; the root is described as having the taste of
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...
s (hence the alternative common name "
oyster plant" for some species in this genus), but more insipid with a touch of sweetness. The young shoots of purple salsify can also be eaten, as well as young leave
Other species are also used in the same way, including the black or
Spanish salsify, ''Scorzonera hispanica'', which is closely related though not a member of the genus ''Tragopogon''.
Etymology
The name ''Tragopogon'' comes .
Hybrid speciation
Salsifies are one example where
hybrid speciation
Hybrid speciation is a form of speciation where hybridization between two different species leads to a new species, reproductively isolated from the parent species. Previously, reproductive isolation between two species and their parents was tho ...
has been observed. In the early 1900s, humans introduced three species of goatsbeard into North America. These
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
, the western salsify (''
T. dubius''), the
meadow salsify (''T. pratensis''), and the oyster plant (''
T. porrifolius''), are now common in urban areas. In the 1950s, botanists found two new species in the regions of
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
and
Washington, where the three already known species overlapped. One new species, ''
Tragopogon miscellus'', is a
tetraploid
Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...
hybrid of ''T. dubius'' and ''T. pratensis''. The other species, ''
Tragopogon mirus'', is also an
allopolyploid, but its ancestors were ''T. dubius'' and ''T. porrifolius''. These new species are usually referred to as "the Ownbey hybrids" after the botanist who first described them. The ''T. mirus'' population grows mainly by reproduction of its own members, but additional episodes of hybrid speciation continue to add to the ''T. mirus'' population.
[Soltis, D. E., Soltis, P. S., Pires, J. C., Kovarik, A., Tate, J. A., & Mavrodiev, E. (2004). Recent and recurrent polyploidy in ''Tragopogon'' (Asteraceae): cytogenetic, genomic and genetic comparisons. ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 82'', 485–501.]
Species
;Accepted species
*
''T. acanthocarpus'' Boiss
*
''T. afghanicus'' Rech.f. & Köie
*
''T. agrostiphyllus'' Rech.f. & Köie
*
''T. alaicus'' Nikitin
*
''T. albinerve'' Freyn & Sint.
*
''T. albomarginatus'' Kitam.
*
''T. altaicus'' S.A.Nikitin & Schischk.
*
''T. angustissimus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. armeniacus'' Kuth.
*
''T. artemczukii'' Klokov
*
''T. aureus'' Boiss.
*
''T. badachschanicus'' Boriss.
*
''T. bakhtiaricus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. balcanicus'' Velen.
*
''T. barbirostris'' Bisch.
*
''T. bjelorussicus'' Artemczuk
*
''T. bornmuelleri'' G.B.Ownbey & Rech.f.
*
''T. capitatus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. castellanus'' Levier
*
''T. cazorlanum'' C.Díaz & Blanca
*
''T. charadzeae'' Kuth.
*
''T. clavulatus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. coelesyriacus'' Boiss.
*
''T. colchicus'' Albov ex Grossh.
*
''T. collinus'' DC.
*
''T. coloratus'' C.A.Mey.
*
''T. conduplicatus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. cretaceus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. crocifolius'' L.
*
''T. cupani'' Guss. ex DC.
*
''T. dasyrhynchus'' Artemczuk
*
''T. dolichocarpus'' Klokov
*
''T. duarius'' Chenev.
*
''T. dubianskyi'' Krasch. & S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. dubius'' Scop. – western salsify, western goat's beard, wild oysterplant, yellow salsify, yellow goat's beard, meadow goat's beard, goat's beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify
*
''T. elatior'' Steven
*
''T. elongatus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. erostris'' Boiss. & Hausskn.
*
''T. fibrosum'' Freyn & Sint. ex Freyn
*
''T. filifolius'' Rehm. ex Boiss.
*
''T. flexuosus'' Sosn. ex Grossh.
*
''T. floccosus'' Waldst. & Kit. – woolly goatsbeard
*
''T. gaudanicus'' Boriss.
*
''T. glabrum'' G.Nicholson
*
''T. gongylorrhizus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. gorskianus'' Rchb.f.
*
''T. gracilis'' D.Don
*
''T. graminifolius'' DC.
*
''T. hayekii'' (Soó) I.Richardson
*
''T. heteropappus'' C.H.An
*
''T. hortensis'' Focke
*
''T. humilis'' Fisch.
*
''T. hybridus'' L. – pasture goatsbeard
*
''T. idae'' Kuth.
*
''T. iranicus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. jesdianus'' Boiss. & Buhse
*
''T. karelinii'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. karjaginii'' Kuth.
*
''T. kasahstanicus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. kashmirianus'' G.Singh
*
''T. kemulariae'' Kuth.
*
''T. ketzkhovelii'' Kuth.
*
''T. khorasanicus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. kindingeri'' Adamov
*
''T. kopetdaghensis'' Boriss.
*
''T. krascheninnikovii'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. kultiassovii'' Popov ex S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. kurdicus'' Blakelock
*
''T. kurdistanicus'' Chrtek & Hadač
*
''T. lassithicus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. latifolius'' Boiss.
*
''T. leiorhynchus'' Klokov
*
''T. leonidae'' Kuth.
*
''T. leucanthus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. lamottei'' Rouy – jack-go-to-bed-at-noon
*
''T. makaschwilii'' Kuth.
*
''T. malikus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. marginatus'' Pavlov
*
''T. melanantherus'' Klokov
*
''T. meskheticus'' Kuth.
*
''T. minor'' Mill.
*
''T. mirabilis'' Rouy – Ontario goatsbeard
*
''T. mirus'' Ownbey – remarkable goatsbeard
*
''T. miscellus'' Ownbey – hybrid goat's-beard, Moscow salsify
*
''T. moldavicus'' Klokov
*
''T. montanus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. mutabilis'' Jacq.
*
''T. nebrodensis'' Guss.
*
''T. neglectum'' Hausskn.
*
''T. olympicus'' Boiss.
*
''T. orientalis'' L.
*
''T. otschiaurii'' Kuth.
*
''T. paradoxus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. parviflorus'' Trev.
*
''T. perpusillus'' Arv.-Touv.
*
''T. persicus'' Boiss.
*
''T. phaeus'' Focke
*
''T. pichlerii'' Boiss.
*
''T. porphyrocephalus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. porrifolius'' L. – salsify, purple salsify, oyster plant, common salsify, goatsbeard
*
''T. praecox'' Focke
*
''T. pratensis'' L. – jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, meadow salsify or goatsbeard
*
''T. pseudocastellanus'' Blanca & C.Díaz
*
''T. pseudomajus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. pterodes'' Pančić
*
''T. pubescens'' Kit.
*
''T. pusillus'' M.Bieb.
*
''T. rechingeri'' G.B.Ownbey
*
''T. reticulatus'' Boiss. & A.Huet
*
''T. rezaiyensis'' Rech.f.
*
''T. rhodanthus'' Sweet
*
''T. ruber'' S.G.Gmel.
*
''T. rumelicum'' Velen.
*
''T. ruthenicus'' Besser ex Claus
*
''T. sabulosus'' Krasch. & S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. samaritani'' Heldr. & Sart.
*
''T. savranicus'' Sobko
*
''T. scopoli'' Vill.
*
''T. segetus'' Kuth.
*
''T. serawschanicus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. sibiricus'' Ganesch.
*
''T. silesiacus'' Krock.
*
''T. soltisiorum'' Mavrodiev
*
''T. songoricus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. sosnowskyi'' Kuth.
*
''T. stribrnyi'' Hayek
*
''T. stroterocarpus'' Rech.f.
*
''T. subacaulis'' O.Schwarz
*
''T. subalpinus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. tanaiticus'' Artemczuk
*
''T. tasch-kala'' Kuth.
*
''T. tauricus'' Klokov
*
''T. tesquicola'' Klokov
*
''T. tomentosulus'' Boriss.
*
''T. tommasinii'' Sch.Bip.
*
''T. trachycarpus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. transcarpaticus'' Klokov
*
''T. transsilvanicus'' Hayek
*
''T. turkestanicus'' S.A.Nikitin
*
''T. ucrainicus'' Artemczuk
*
''T. vaginatus'' G.B.Ownbey & Rech.f.
*
''T. verrucosobracteatus'' C.H.An
*
''T. villosus'' L.
*
''T. vulgaris'' Gueldenst.
*
''T. vvedenskyi'' Popov
*
''T. xanthantherus'' Klokov
*
''T. × crantzii'' Dichlt. – Crantz's salsify
**
''dubius × pratensis''
*
''T. × neohybridus'' Farw. – newhybrid salsify
**
''porrifolius × pratensis''
;Formerly included
[
The following species were once included in ''Tragopogon'' and are now regarded as better suited to other genera: '' Agoseris, Geropogon, Krigia, Lasiospora, ]Nothocalais
''Nothocalais'' is a genus of North American flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. There are known generally as false dandelions or false agoseris.
As of 2023 all four of these species are classified in ''Nothoc ...
, Podospermum, Scorzonera, Taraxacum
''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...
'', and '' Urospermum''.
References
External links
Jepson Manual treatment of the genus
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q889257
Speciation events
Root vegetables
Stem vegetables
Asteraceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus