Aleppine Yellow. Scorzonera hispanica, Black Salsify, and Marmalade Hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ah! Salsifiy! I was reminded of its exquisite taste this morning as I was ambling through the pleasant Botanical Garden of Amsterdam and stopped to admire these yellows, verging on orange marmalades.
Salsify's long black, tuberous, carrot-like roots don't mature until the Autumn; and then it's a bit of a sticky job to divest them of their black skin (best to do this with the roots under water). This delicacy had been grown in Spain already in the sixteenth century and in much of Europe by the mid-seventeenth century. It was seen in Syria by the first post-medieval scientific traveller, botanist and anthropologist to visit the Near and Middle East. Leonhard Rauwolff's (1535-1596) trip (1573-1596) was financed by family members in the hope that he would bring back financially viable botanical products to Germany. He kept a notebook of his journey from Marseilles-Tripoli in Lebanon-Aleppo-Baghdad-Mosul-Jerusalem and back to Europe, and he published his findings and observations once he was safely back home.
In the marketplace of Aleppo Rauwolff saw Salsify - called by him Eppich (a name also used for other plants) - and he notes the local name as: Corton (which is remarkably close to 'Scorzonera'); it's eaten with salt and pepper. He says it's cultivated in that area and especially in the Lebanese mountains near 'Cedars of the Lebanon'. In Europe it went by the scientific name Scorzonera, apparently because it could be used to treat snakebites (a parallel to Serpentaria in Classical Antiquity, of course).
Much as I enjoy Salsify, I've never taken a bite of its leaves or flowers. But our Marmalade Hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, seems about to enjoy a Taste of its Pollen.
Aleppine Yellow. Scorzonera hispanica, Black Salsify, and Marmalade Hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ah! Salsifiy! I was reminded of its exquisite taste this morning as I was ambling through the pleasant Botanical Garden of Amsterdam and stopped to admire these yellows, verging on orange marmalades.
Salsify's long black, tuberous, carrot-like roots don't mature until the Autumn; and then it's a bit of a sticky job to divest them of their black skin (best to do this with the roots under water). This delicacy had been grown in Spain already in the sixteenth century and in much of Europe by the mid-seventeenth century. It was seen in Syria by the first post-medieval scientific traveller, botanist and anthropologist to visit the Near and Middle East. Leonhard Rauwolff's (1535-1596) trip (1573-1596) was financed by family members in the hope that he would bring back financially viable botanical products to Germany. He kept a notebook of his journey from Marseilles-Tripoli in Lebanon-Aleppo-Baghdad-Mosul-Jerusalem and back to Europe, and he published his findings and observations once he was safely back home.
In the marketplace of Aleppo Rauwolff saw Salsify - called by him Eppich (a name also used for other plants) - and he notes the local name as: Corton (which is remarkably close to 'Scorzonera'); it's eaten with salt and pepper. He says it's cultivated in that area and especially in the Lebanese mountains near 'Cedars of the Lebanon'. In Europe it went by the scientific name Scorzonera, apparently because it could be used to treat snakebites (a parallel to Serpentaria in Classical Antiquity, of course).
Much as I enjoy Salsify, I've never taken a bite of its leaves or flowers. But our Marmalade Hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, seems about to enjoy a Taste of its Pollen.