Salsify

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Salsify in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Salsify (formerly sometimes spelled salsafy) is Tragopogon porrifolius, one of the Compositae. Fig. 3532. A garden esculent, grown for the fleshy root. This root has the flavor of oysters, hence the plant is sometimes called vegetable oyster and oyster plant. Salsify is perfectly hardy. The seeds (which are really fruits) are sown in early spring, about as soon as the soil can be prepared, in drills where the plants are to stand. The drills may be 2 to 3 feet apart, if tilled by light horse-tools, or half that distance if tilled only by hand. In the rows, the plants are thinned to stand 3 to 6 inches apart. The plant requires the entire season, in the North, in which to grow. The roots may be allowed to remain in the ground until spring, for freezing does not harm them. In fact, they are usually better for being left in the ground, because they do not shrivel and become tough as they often do in storage. If they are kept cool and moist in storage, however, the quality is as good as when the roots remain in the ground. At least a part of the crop should be stored, for the table or the market during winter and early spring. The plant is biennial. The second spring, a strong stalk 2 to 3 feet tall is sent up from the crown of the root, and in spring or early summer an abundance of light purple flower-heads are produced. The flowers, or heads, close about noon. The leaves are long, linear, and grass-like. The roots are small, well-grown specimens being about 1 foot long and unbranched, and about 2 inches in diameter at the top. The skin is grayish white. Salsify is easy to grow, and it has no serious pests. It is a vegetable of secondary importance commercially, although it should be in every home-garden, particularly in the North, where it thrives best. Eight to ten pounds of seed is sown to the acre. There are few varieties, and these have no marked characteristics except in size. The Mammoth Sandwich Island and Improved French are probably the best varieties. Salsify is native to southern Europe. In some places it has escaped as a weed. See Tragopogon. Black salsify is Scorzonera; Spanish salsify is Scolymus. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Salsify. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Salsify QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)