This section is from the book "Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers", by Caroline A. Creevey. Also available from Amazon: Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers.
Family, Composite. Color, yellow. Leaves, clasping at base, tapering to a very long, sharp point, sometimes 10 inches long. Stem, 2 or 3 feet high. Peduncles slightly thickened, bearing a broad, flat head of ray and disk flowers, all tubular. Pappus of many long, plume-like bristles.
Fields and waste places from New Jersey northward. Succulent herbs with strong tap-roots, perennials or biennials, the flowers opening in the morning, closing at noon.
Goat's Beard. [Tragopogon pratensis)
 
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