Yellow Salsify Puffball/Tragopogon Dubius

Posted by Steven (Chicagoland, United States) on 11 September 2009 in Plant & Nature and Portfolio.

Don't be mistaken. This is not the famous dandelion puffball. While you can't tell by looking at it, the yellow salsify's puffball is about twice the size as the dandelion's puffball; about three inches in diameter and its stem about waist-high. The seeds, with each of its large, hairy parachutes, held on tight to the yellow salsify's head. I couldn't help but see eyelashes that were woven with spun spider webs to give the individual parachutes their cupped look.

It was interesting to note that the yellow salsify is native to southern and central Europe and western Asia. What's it doing in Illinois? Photographs taken July 7, 2009.

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