Pronunciation: trag-oh-POH-gon pruh-TEN-sis
Bright yellow rays and relatively short green bracts help distinguish Meadow Goat’s-beard.
Family: Asteraceae (aster family)
Life cycle: Usually biennial
Native status: Non-native in North America
Blooms: May–August
Height: About 1–3 feet
Habitat: Sunny grassy roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Common names: Meadow Salsify; Showy Goat’s-beard; Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon
Observation maps show reported sightings, not a complete distribution.
Look for a yellow flowerhead above narrow, grasslike leaves. On a fully open head, the surrounding green bracts usually reach about as far as the rays or fall short of them. The stalk remains slender immediately below a flowering head.
Use these features together. Flower color alone is not decisive, and a fluffy seedhead without the stalk is difficult to identify to species.
Search sunny roadsides, old fields and other grassy disturbed places from late spring into summer. Morning visits offer the best chance of finding open heads; they often close by midday.
An introduced species established in parts of North America, including Wisconsin and the surrounding Midwest. Explore reported observations to see local records.
Each apparent flower is a head of many strap-shaped ray florets. After flowering, the bracts close around the developing fruits, making a tapered structure that can look like a pod. It is a closed flowerhead, not a seedpod.
At maturity, the head opens into a large globe of plumed fruits. Photograph the head from the side, including the stalk, before relying on a seedhead for identification.
Compare with Yellow Goat’s-beard (Tragopogon dubius). The bract-to-ray proportions and the stalk beneath the head are more useful than color alone.
T. pratensis: bracts usually about equal to or shorter than the rays; flowering stalk slender beneath the head.
T. dubius: bracts conspicuously exceed the rays; stalk noticeably swollen beneath the head. The flowers are often a paler yellow.
Bees and flies visit goat’s-beard flowerheads. The feathery plumes carry the fruits on the wind, allowing these introduced plants to spread through open disturbed habitats.
“Goat’s-beard” refers to the beardlike tuft of plumes, especially visible as a mature head begins to open. Pratensis means “of meadows.”
Compare other members of the aster family in the Wildflower Guide, then practice recognizing wildflowers in the quiz.
