Tragopogon hybridus - Pasture Goatsbeard

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Asterales - Family: Asteraceae

Like its larger relative Tragopogon porrifolius (Salsify) this plant has attractive pale pink or mauve flowers that only open for a few hours in the morning and then close by midday. Each flower is surrounded by long, narrow green bracts, and the leaves of the plant, also long and narrow, resemble grass, which makes the plant an unlikely member of the daisy family (Asteraceae). Pasture Goatsbeard flowers from April until July and can be found throughout the Mediterranean region, where it is also sometimes cultivated.

The seed heads resemble a giant dandelion clock and are often rather more noticable than the flowers themselves.

This specimen was photographed in the Algarve in Portugal in April.