Scorzonera angustifolia

Scorzonera angustifolia is a perennial herb of the Asteraceae native to dry steppe and semi-desert habitats from the eastern Mediterranean across western and central Asia. Plants are 15 to 50 cm tall, with stout, taprooted bases producing one to several erect, sparsely branched stems. The leaves are characteristically narrow, linear to linear-lanceolate (giving the species its name), with smooth margins, glaucous surfaces, and parallel venation. Flower heads are solitary or few at the stem tips, with cylindrical involucres of imbricate phyllaries and ligulate yellow ray florets producing a dandelion-like flower 2 to 4 cm across. The achenes are ribbed and topped with a plumose pappus of feathery bristles. It flowers in spring and early summer on rocky slopes, dry meadows, and saline soils.