what is salsify?

Answer 1

It's a root vegetable, also called an Oyster Plant.

Answer 2

The Goatsbeards or Salsifies are the genus Tragopogon of flowering plants within the family Asteraceae. They include the vegetable called salsify as well as a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds.

Goatsbeards are forbs growing as biennial or perennial plants. They have a strong taproot and milky sap. They generally have few branches, and those there are tend to be upright. Their leaves are somewhat grass-like. Flower colour varies within the genus, with some yellow species, and some bronze or purple. Seeds are borne in a globe like that of a dandelion but larger, and are dispersed by the wind.

The goatsbeards are natives of Europe and Asia, but several species have been introduced into North America and Australia and have spread widely there.

Some of the commoner species of Tragopogon are known, in the regions where they are commonest, by the common names "goat's beard", "goatsbeard", "salsify" or "common salsify", without further qualification. These names are therefore inherently ambiguous, and best avoided, or reserved for the genus collectively. In the species list below, the first common name given is the one that seems to be most widely used for that species and is not in significant use for any other species.

The vegetable called salsify is usually the root of Purple Salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius; the root is described as having the taste of oysters (hence the alternative common name "Oyster Plant" for some species in this genus). The young shoots of Purple Salsify can also be eaten. Other species are also used in the same way, including the Black or Spanish Salsify, Scorzonera hispanica, which is closely related though not a member of the genus Tragopogon.

Answer 3

The Goatsbeards or Salsifies are the genus Tragopogon of flowering plants within the family Asteraceae. They include the vegetable called salsify as well as a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds.

Goatsbeards are forbs growing as biennial or perennial plants. They have a strong taproot and milky sap. They generally have few branches, and those there are tend to be upright. Their leaves are somewhat grass-like. Flower colour varies within the genus, with some yellow species, and some bronze or purple. Seeds are borne in a globe like that of a dandelion but larger, and are dispersed by the wind.

The goatsbeards are natives of Europe and Asia, but several species have been introduced into North America and Australia and have spread widely there.

Some of the commoner species of Tragopogon are known, in the regions where they are commonest, by the common names "goat's beard", "goatsbeard", "salsify" or "common salsify", without further qualification. These names are therefore inherently ambiguous, and best avoided, or reserved for the genus collectively. In the species list below, the first common name given is the one that seems to be most widely used for that species and is not in significant use for any other species.

The vegetable called salsify is usually the root of Purple Salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius; the root is described as having the taste of oysters (hence the alternative common name "Oyster Plant" for some species in this genus). The young shoots of Purple Salsify can also be eaten. Other species are also used in the same way, including the Black or Spanish Salsify, Scorzonera hispanica, which is closely related though not a member of the genus Tragopogon.

Answer 4

Salsafy

Botanical: Tragopogon porrifolius (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Compositae

---Synonyms---Purple Goat's Beard. Vegetable Oyster.
(French) Salsifis des prés.
---Part Used---Root.

The Salsafy, familiar as a kitchen-garden plant, is very similar to Goat's Beard, the main difference being the colour of the flowers - yellow in our native species, purple in the Salsafy.
Salsafy is often called the Purple Goat's Beard, from its likeness in general character to the Yellow Goat's Beard of the countryside. Some writers, again, invert this distinction and call the Yellow Goat's Beard, 'Meadow Salsafy.' The French call it 'Salsifis des prés.'

Salsafy is a corruption of the old Latin name solsequium. This was derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sequens (following), meaning the flower that followed the course of the sun.

It is a taller plant than the Goat's Beard, the stem being nearly 3 feet high. The leaves and flowers are similar in form, the flowers having the same peculiarity of closing at noon. The florets are of a delicate pale purple colour.

Though not a British species, it is occasionally found in moist meadows, having been originally a garden escape. It was formerly much cultivated for the sake of its fleshy, tapering roots.

Answer 5

Salsify is a hardy biennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Its white fleshy roots and spring shoots are cooked and eaten; the roots are said to taste like oysters.
Related to Scorzonera.

Answer 6

What Is Salsify

Answer 7

It is a root vegetable which is long and thin and reminiscent of horseradish when you dig it out of the soil. When you peel it oozes a whitish liquid like dandelion milk. You cook it as you would thin carrots. The taste is delicate and pleasant. Sadly it is rarely seen in England probably because it requires warmer cultivating conditions, but it can be bought on French markets.

Answer 8

I really like both fruits and fruit and vegetables better, however they look and taste. You desire a little of both.

Answer 9

In the event that it's a fruit they have seeds, otherwise it's a vegetable. And vegetables are usually grown in the ground while fruits are grown in trees.

Answer 10

It's a kind of root vegetable, also called an oyster plant.