… a Goat’s Beard, that is. I recently found some Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon dubius) wildflowers growing in my new-found prairie meadow. Wasn’t even sure what it was for a while … had to do an internet search to identify it. In my opinion, this is a spectacular plant with amazing beauty. Some people find it a “nuisance weed” (it is similar in several ways to the common dandelion) but to me, it is another marvel of nature! Here’s a few of the images I’ve taken at the prairie meadow of the Goat’s Beard:
This first image is the Goat’s Beard in bloom, standing about 30 inches high:
At the time I made the above image, there were a few plants at the bud stage, not quite bloomed out:
As I was leaving the prairie meadow, I found a bee-like insect that was avidly going after the nectar of the Goat’s Beard flowers:
Approximately 10 days later, I revisited this prairie meadow and found that the Goat’s Beard wildflowers had faded away. However, the plants’ seedheads were plainly visible. Here is where the Goat’s Beard is similar to the dandelion, except much, much larger!
And here is a tight macro shot of the seed … quite an interesting view!
So, you will likely have either a love or hate relationship with this wildflower. Me? I love it!