Weed (?) ID please.

I was told it is a Goat's Beard but when I Googled that not even close. I suppose it is a weed. Flower stalk is about 4 foot tall. Yellow flower, many petals, star shape overall. Seed head looks like a giant dandelion. Seems to perfer sunny spot. Thanks. Gene

Does your flower look like this? We identified it as a Goat's Beard several years ago. If this is not your flower, could you post a picture?

I just did a search to see if it was native or introduced (non-native... bummer) and something came up on the top hits called a Goat's Beard (spirea, if I remember) that blooms in the fall and looks nothing like this plant.

I am learning that common names of plants seem to be used multiple times, thus causing confusion. One of the first plants I had IDed at Dave's Garden was given the name pig weed, it had small thick leaves and spread low. But when I had some recent plants IDed, those too were called pig weed. If I can find the Latin names for plants, I will search under those rather than the common. But that doesn't help when you are trying to get the identification of a plant.

Yes, that is the flower. I did find some hits for Yellow Goat's Beard. I agree about common names. I have over 1400 house plants and I know the latin name for each since common names can be very confusing,, misleading. Thanks. Gene

OK, out today taking some pix with a lens that I might sell. Anyone want some seed. lt me know. Gene

Dagnabbit! I know this plant, but the name currently evades my recollection. I have had it emerge around the Valley from time to time. If you were to post the images over on the Plant ID forum, you will likely get an instant answer.

I don't recall that this is necessarily a native (so careful about distribution) but getting a correct ID is a good first step.

As I kept straining, I came up with a name: Salsify. It appears Goat's Beard (from the latin term Tragopogon) is also used commonly.

Here are a few PlantFiles entries to peruse on your way to identifying your beast.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65400/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1362/

They use hairspray- the cheapest available- to use on the bloom seeds for dried flower bouquets- quite a few blooming across the east coast now.