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• All other flowering non-woody plants
• Daisies, goldenrods, and other aster family plants
• Tragopogon pratensis

Tragopogon pratensis — jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, meadow goat's beard

Facts

Meadow goat's beard is introduced from Europe. The bracts subtending the flower heads do not exceed the ray flowers in length. Goatsbeards (Tragopogon) have large cypselae (fruits) with an impressive feathery pappus for dispersal, which has allowed these plants to spread across nearly all of North America, where they principally colonize disturbed sites and old fields.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract cycle number

  there is one main cycle of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  0

  Disk flower number

  0

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  12–38 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Ovary beak

  there is a beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are ten or more ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  16-25

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Style branch number

  there are no obvious branches on the style

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are not swollen, or only slightly

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed hair tuft bases

  the pappus hairs are attached to one another near the base

  Seed hair tuft color

  • the pappus hairs are tan to dark brown
  • the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs have smaller hairs along their sides

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed hairs uniform

  all the pappus hairs are approximately the same length

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has no petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole and at the base it clasps the stem, or goes all the way around the stem so the stem appears to pierce the leaf

  Leaf blade bloom

  there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs

  Leaf blade length

  Up to 300 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 20 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Teeth per side of leaf blade

  0

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  • the stem has a powdery or waxy film on it that can be rubbed away
  • there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  NA

  Stem internode hair length

  0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae