Tragopogon collinus

Tragopogon collinus DC.

Tragopogon collinus is a perennial or biennial plant in the Asteraceae family, native to regions including Pakistan, Jordan, Armenia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Sinai, Iran, Nakhichevan, Palestine, and the Transcaucasus. It was first described in 1838. The plant features a thick, vertical root and a stem that is 5-25 cm tall, usually solitary and densely leafy. The leaves are lanceolate-linear or filiform, with a white border and often exceed the stem in length. The capitula are pink, reddish, or purple, with florets longer than the involucre. The achenes have a pappus and are 4.8 cm long with a 1.5 cm body and a 1 cm beak.

Description

Tragopogon collinus has a cylindrical, vertical root covered with fibres and remnants of old leaves. The plant is flocculose and glaucous. The stems are solitary, simple, and weakly branched, with each typically bearing a single capitulum. Basal leaves are numerous, semiamplexicaul, and lanceolate-linear, with a white border. Cauline leaves are whitish at the base and form a sheath. The peduncles are not thickened below the capitula. Involucral bracts are eight in number, narrowly lanceolate, and shorter or equal in length to the florets. The capitula are 2.5-3 cm long at flowering and 4.5-4.8 cm at fruiting. The achenes have a pappus 1.8-2 cm long, usually dirty violet, and a body of 1.5 cm with sharp ribs in the middle, narrowing into a 1 cm beak.