Salsify
Read about Salsify in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Tragopogon (Greek for goat's beard). Compositae. Goat's-beard. Erect biennial or perennial herbs with narrow grass-like leaves and heads of yellow or purple flowers, belonging to the ligulate section of the composite family (tribe Cichoriaceae). Mostly weedy plants with a tap-root: florets perfect, with slender style-branches and sagittate anthers; pappus composed of bristles in a single series; involucre cylindric or nearly so, with approximately equal-length bracts in a single row.—Between 30 and 40 species, native to S. Eu., N. Afr., and Cent. and S. Asia. One of them is cult. for its edible taproot (salsify) and another is now a frequent weed in thus country. The fls. of these open only in the morning.
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| Exposure: | ☼ | ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
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| Water: | ◍ | ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property. |
Read about Salsify in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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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.
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Cultivation
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Pests and diseases
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Species
About 45 species, including:
Tragopogon coloratus
Tragopogon crocifolius
Tragopogon cupani
Tragopogon dubius
Tragopogon floccosus
Tragopogon gracilis
Tragopogon mirabilis
Tragopogon mirus
Tragopogon miscellus
Tragopogon porrifolius
Tragopogon pratensis
Tragopogon × crantzii
Tragopogon × neohybridus
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)
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