Index / Search / Tragopogon porrifolius

§1 Plant — species · Asteraceae

Tragopogon porrifolius L.

vernacular salsify


USDA
TRPO
GBIF
5386938
Rank
species
salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius)
Platephotograph · Gideon van MelleCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Biennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Tragopogon
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-28 °F minimum
Frost-free days
110 min.
Precipitation
14–55 in/yr
pH range
5.2–7.8
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
4.5 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
29,702
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
Yes
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 10 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/TRPO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5386938 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z