A. arvensis
         C. segetum
         C. spinosum
         P. dysenterica
         S. asper
         T. hybridum
         T. porrifolius

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Unless otherwise noted, all pictures on this site were taken in Pelion, Greece, shown on the map below.

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View images of the Common Toad, an ugly, bulky, but really sweet creature with an interesting... nightlife.

  Veggie of the Month

Learn about the Salsify, a beautiful plant, with edible and medicinal properties, that is currently blooming in Pelion.

  Cool Destination

Visit Mourtias, one of Pelion's most picturesque beaches on the Aegean coast.

  Exciting Site

Tour the Volos Archaeological Museum, a pretty century-old building, whose exhibits span a historical period of over 10 millennia!

  Month's Wallpaper

Download a fantastic picture of a rickety jetty in Lefokastron, Pelion, taken by Huw Jones.

Loading image. Please wait Slender Salsify (Tragopogon hybridum) :: Horton :: 2008/04/20 :: © A.Papadopoulos Slender Salsify (Tragopogon hybridum) :: Horton :: 2008/04/20 :: © A.Papadopoulos Slender Salsify (Tragopogon hybridum) :: Horton :: 2008/04/20 :: © A.Papadopoulos Slender Salsify (Tragopogon hybridum) :: Horton :: 2008/04/20 :: © A.Papadopoulos Slender Salsify (Tragopogon hybridum) :: Horton :: 2008/04/20 :: © A.Papadopoulos

Slender Salsify

Tragopogon hybridum

This is a beautiful, short to medium, rather delicate annual, rarely more than 50cm (20in) tall. Flower heads are pinkish-lilac, with few, often only 5  florets, much exceeded by the narrow, pointed flower bracts.

I couldn't find too much information on this plant, but, while searching, I did happen upon a very interesting passage from a book by Oliver J. Thatcher, entitled "The Library of Original Sources: Volume VI (Advance in Knowledge 1650-1800", which I'd like to share with you:

"Tragopogon hybridum attracted my notice the autumn before last, in a part of the garden where I had planted Tragopogon pratense, and Tragopogon porrifolium; but winter coming on, destroyed its seeds. Last year, while the Tragopogon pratense was in flower, I rubbed off its pollen early in the morning, and about eight o'clock sprinkled its stigmata with some pollen of the Tragopogon porrifolium, marking the calyces by tying a thread round them. I afterwards gathered the seeds when ripe, and sowed them that autumn in another place; they grew, and produced this year, 1759, purple flowers yellow at the base, seeds of which I now send. I doubt whether any experiment demonstrates the generation of plants more certainly than this.

There can be no doubt that these are all new species produced by hybrid generation. And hence we learn, that a mule offspring is the exact image of its mother in its  medullary substance, internal nature, or fructification, but resembles its father in leaves. This is a foundation upon which naturalists may build much. For it seems probable that many plants, which now appear different species in the same genus, may in the beginning have been but one plant, having arisen merely from hybrid generation."

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Fact Sheet

Type of plant
Short to medium, rather delicate annual.

Flowering Season
March - May.

Known Hazards
None known.

Known Uses
None known.

Habitat
Pastures, waste and fallow land, grassy and stony places.

Distribution
Throughout the Mediterranean region, probably except Cyprus.

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Taxonomy


Kingdom: Plantae (Plants); Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (Vascular plants); Superdivision: Spermatophyta (Seed plants); Division: Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants); Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons); Subclass: Asteridae; Order: Asterales; Family: Compositae or Asteraceae (Daisy or Sunflower family); Genus: Tragopogon; Species: hybridum

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Acknowledgments

The following sources have been used in preparing this page:

• BLAMEY, M., GREY-WILSON, C. 1993. Collins Guide to the Mediterranean Wild Flowers. Domino Books, Jersey. (See detailed review)
• THATCHER, O.J. 2004. The Library of Original Sources: Volume VI (Advance in Knowledge 1650-1800). The Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 1410214060.

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