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Yellow Salsify

Tragopogon dubius

Summary 9

Tragopogon dubius (western salsify, western goat's-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow salsify, yellow goat's beard, goat's beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify) is a species of Salsify native to southern and central Europe and western Asia and found as far north and west as northern France. Although it has been reported from Kashmir and India, recent evidence suggests that specimens from these areas may be a different species. Western Salsify has been introduced into North America where it has...

Description 10

More info for the terms: monocarpic, pappus

This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available (e.g., [42,47,56,57,85,150]). Yellow salsify hybrids are described in a review by Clements and others [25].

Yellow salsify grows as an annual, biennial, or monocarpic perennial [25,51,56,106,121]. Plants grow between 12 and 39 inches (30-100 cm) tall [47,155]. In its first year(s), yellow salsify produces an erect rosette of grass-like leaves. Plants may remain vegetative for up to 10 years before flowering. After flowering, yellow salsify dies [25,51].

Yellow salsify produces ascending, leafy, and sometimes branched stems that exude a milky latex sap when broken [7,56,121,123]. Alternate leaves are narrow, measure 0.4 to 12 inches (1-30 cm) long, and are tapered from base to tip [35,107,121]. Young leaves can be hairy [121], but mature leaves are waxy [149]. Head flowers occur at the stem ends on inflated peduncles [63]. Heads measure up to 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) in diameter and are comprised of only ray flowers [121,145]. Flowers open early in the day and close by early afternoon and may not open during cloudy or rainy days [74,121].

Yellow salsify produces achenes that measure 1 to 1.6 inches (25-40 mm) long. Achenes are attached to a large feathery pappus that may reach 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter at maturity [12,44,57,121]. When achenes mature, the base of the flower reflexes, forming a dandelion-like ball of fruits [35,47]. Seeds produced in abandoned fields in Michigan weighed an average of 6.5 mg [50]. Seed placement within the flower affects its weight; mass gradually increases from the center to the periphery of the flower head [88,94].

© Kenneth Chamberlain, Ohio State Weed Lab Archive, Ohio State University

 

Yellow salsify taproots are described as stout, fleshy, thick, and long [44,47,107,145]. On disturbed sites in Utah, yellow salsify roots were often "heavily" infected with mycorrhizae [118]. As of this writing (2008), no excavation studies reported taproot size or rooting depth for yellow salsify rosettes or flowering plants.

© Michael Shephard, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Impacts and control 11

More info for the terms: cover, density, fire management, nonnative species, presence

Impacts: Yellow salsify is rarely abundant in any vegetation type. While yellow salsify may be persistent in open grassland and shrubland habitats, it rarely occupies much cover. Impacts on native vegetation and/or ecosystem processes were not noted in the available literature. In a Montana flora, yellow salsify was referred to as a "harmless" introduced species [74].

In many cases, yellow salsify is restricted to disturbed sites. In a survey of roadsides and disturbed sites in Yellowstone National Park and the Gallatin National Forest, yellow salsify occurred on roadsides and in clearcuts but abundance decreased from disturbed sites to the interior lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)/antelope bitterbrush forests [117]. In Glacier National Park, yellow salsify occurred on roadsides but not at distances 7 feet (2 m) into rough fescue-Idaho fescue grasslands [146]. However, yellow salsify was 1 of 3 nonnative species in remote, open, old-growth ponderosa pine stands on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park that were protected from logging and grazing since the mid-1930s [78]. Large yellow salsify populations are reported from British Columbia's southern Kootenay, Thompson-Nicola, and Okanagan regions [148].

Control: Limiting disturbances may be the most successful and most economical method of yellow salsify control. Some suggest that yellow salsify is not "aggressive" and that "control is seldom necessary" [145]. In any control or management plans, yellow salsify's importance to wildlife should be considered. Potential control methods are discussed below.

Prevention: Studies and observations suggest that yellow salsify's survival, growth, and reproduction may be reduced by the presence of neighboring vegetation. After 10 years of observations in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, researchers noted that yellow salsify spread in "overgrazed" sites with "weakened" grasses [18]. In a wind tunnel experiment, the number of yellow salsify seeds dispersing beyond neighboring vegetation decreased significantly (P<0.01) with the increasing height of neighboring vegetation [33]. In another experiment, the presence of neighboring vegetation affected yellow salsify survival, growth, and reproduction moreso than disturbances by plains pocket gopher activities. Survival, growth, and reproduction were all significantly greater (P<0.05) when yellow salsify grew without other vegetation [127].

Integrated management: Upadhyaya and others suggest that herbicides and grazing can be used together to control yellow salsify [148].

Physical/mechanical: Yellow salsify is not a likely problem in cultivated fields but could persist in no-till systems [108].

Fire: See Fire Management Considerations.

Biological: Livestock and wildlife utilize yellow salsify, sometimes extensively. Flower and/or seed heads are consumed by sage-grouse [119], dusky grouse [29], pronghorn [16], and white-tailed deer [128]. Native and nonnative herbivores may have played a role in limiting yellow salsify's abundance. However, the effects of grazing on yellow salsify are inconsistent. While herbivores likely eliminated portions of the season's seed, they also create disturbances and openings in canopy cover and may aid in seed dispersal. Grazing animal, intensity, and timing may all affect the usefulness of grazing to reduce yellow salsify abundance. In simulated grazing trials, 3 years of intense, early-season grazing decreased yellow salsify density by 25% to 50% (Blumenauer, personal communication, cited in [25]),[148].

Chemical: Herbicide effectiveness on yellow salsify is discussed in these references: [99,148].

Cultural: See Prevention. No additional information is available on this topic.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) 2001 Steven Thorsted, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=107268&one=T
  2. (c) José María Escolano, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/42786943@N07/4690489941
  3. František ŠARŽÍK, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/74720.jpg
  4. (c) Steven J. Baskauf, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/21498
  5. (c) Steven J. Baskauf, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/21496
  6. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Tragopogon%20dubius%2044972.jpg
  7. (c) Dylan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dylan
  8. (c) 2014 Richard Spellenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=619185&one=T
  9. Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragopogon_dubius
  10. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24630405
  11. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24630415

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