{"id":40724,"date":"2016-07-30T06:23:14","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T12:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40724"},"modified":"2026-03-22T07:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:06:28","slug":"yellow-salsify-seed-head-in-the-targhee-national-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/30\/yellow-salsify-seed-head-in-the-targhee-national-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow Salsify Seed Head in the Targhee National Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YellowWestern Goatsbeard Seedhead – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The scientific name is Tragopogon dubius<\/em> but this forb has many common names including Yellow Salsify<\/span><\/a>, Yellow Goatsbeard, Western Salsify, Wild Oysterplant and my favorite Western Goatsbeard. The flowers are yellow and dandelion-like but I am fond of the large, fluffy looking seed heads and try to photograph them when I can.<\/p>\n

I photographed this one earlier this month in the Targhee National Forest in Clark County, Idaho while looking for active nesting cavities of sapsuckers, flickers, swallows, and wrens.<\/p>\n

The light was horrible but I liked how perfect the seed head looked and took a few photos any way. It wasn’t until I was back home in Utah and viewed this image on my large monitor that I noticed a tiny butterfly looking right at me. Can you see<\/a><\/span> it?<\/p>\n

Yellow Salsify is nonnative and was introduced to North America as a garden plant in the early 1900’s. I’m not generally fond of introduced plants as a whole but this species is consumed by sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, dusky grouse, and many songbird species and has become an important food source for juvenile grouse.<\/p>\n

The seeds spread much like dandelions do… by catching a breeze and floating through the air.<\/p>\n

I also think the nearly 4 inch seed heads are delicate looking and pretty.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The scientific name is Tragopogon dubius but this forb has many common names including Yellow Salsify, Yellow Goatsbeard, Western Salsify, Wild Oysterplant and my favorite Western Goatsbeard. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2578,2244,2261,5347,17300],"tags":[5342,5343,686,5340,5341,5335,5338,5339,3896,5337,5336],"class_list":["post-40724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-county","category-idaho","category-targhee-national-forest","category-wildflowers","category-yellow-salsify","tag-edible","tag-forb","tag-introduced","tag-seed-head","tag-seedhead","tag-western-goatsbeard","tag-western-salsify","tag-wild-oysterplant","tag-wildflower","tag-yellow-goatsbeard","tag-yellow-salsify"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-salsify-mia-mcpherson-2728.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aAQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20853,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/04\/western-tanager-in-the-targhee-national-forest\/","url_meta":{"origin":40724,"position":0},"title":"Western 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