The Goatsbeards or Salsifies are the genus Tragopogon of flowering plants within the family Asteraceae. They include the vegetable called salsify as well as a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds.

Goatsbeards are forbs growing as biennial or perennial plants. 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 borne in a globe like that of a dandelion but larger, and are dispersed by the wind.

The goatsbeards are natives of Europe and Asia, but several species have been introduced into North America and Australia and have spread widely there.

Some of the commoner species of Tragopogon are known, in the regions where they are commonest, 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 Purple Salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius; the root is described as having the taste of oysters (hence the alternative common name "Oyster Plant" for some species in this genus). The young shoots of Purple Salsify can also be eaten. Other species, for example Spanish Salsify , T. hispanica, are also used in the same way.

Some species of Goatsbeard

• Tragopogon coloratus
• Tragopogon crocifolius
• Tragopogon cupani
• Western Salsify , Western Goat's Beard, Wild Oysterplant, Yellow Salsify, Yellow Goat's Beard, Meadow Goat's Beard, Goat's Beard, Goatsbeard, Common Salsify, or Salsify, Tragopogon dubius
• Woolly Goatsbeard , Tragopogon floccosus
• Tragopogon gracilis
• Spanish Salsify , Tragopogon hispanica
• Ontario Goatsbeard , Tragopogon mirabilis
• Remarkable Goatsbeard Tragopogon mirus
• Hybrid Goat's-beard or Moscow Salsify , Tragopogon miscellus
• Purple Salsify, Oyster Plant, Common Salsify, Goatsbeard or Salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius
• Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon or Meadow Salsify, Tragopogon pratensis
• Crantz's Salsify , Tragopogon X crantzii
• Newhybrid Salsify , Tragopogon X neohybridus

External links

• Jepson Manual treatment of the genus