Yellow salsify is an introduced biennial or an annual herb with milky sap. The stems are leafy, often branched and reach 30-100 cm tall. The stem is markedly swollen just below the heads. The alternate leaves clasp the stem at the base and are long, narrow, smooth-margined, and taper from the base to the tip. The solitary heads are composed of pale yellow ray flowers only with the involucre large (2.5-4 cm long) and cone-shaped in bud. Yellow salsify is common in relatively dry waste places such as railroad embankments, roadsides, and fields at low elevations.