the.com/salsify
a root vegetable that tastes like oysters and lies in a beard
means Salsify is a long, slender root vegetable with pale flesh and a faintly oyster-like flavor, traditionally cooked like a parsnip.
from English borrowed it from French "salsifis," which came from Italian "sassefrica" — possibly tracing back to a Latin compound suggesting something that "rubs" or grows in rough ground, though the exact roots are murky and much debated. The plant's hairy, beard-like leaves earned it the folk nickname "goatsbeard," and its oyster taste gave it another: "oyster plant."
- nickname
- called the oyster plant for its briny flavor
- appearance
- looks like a muddy, hairy parsnip
- flower
- purple blooms open at dawn, close by noon
- forager favorite
- its seed heads mimic giant dandelion puffs
- history
- a prized Victorian table delicacy now nearly forgotten
scorzonera hispanica — black salsify species native to spain, cultivated across europe since the 16th century
tragopogon porrifolius — purple salsify with edible root and flowers, common in mediterranean region and north america