A look into the seed-head of a Salsify

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colohank
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:07 pm
Location: Fruita, Colorado, USA

A look into the seed-head of a Salsify

Post by colohank »

Three or more inches in diameter, the seed-head of Salsify (or Goat's Beard or Oyster Plant) looks like that of a giant dandelion. This look inside is the result of a focus stack processed using Affinity Photo software. The root of the plant is edible and is said to taste a bit like oyster. I'm not fond of oysters, and so, when afforded an opportunity to order a side-dish at the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Kentucky, I passed. That was twenty years ago. I kind of wish now I'd tried it -- a mild regret. I found this specimen growing in my backyard in western Colorado.
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MarkSturtevant
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Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
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Re: A look into the seed-head of a Salsify

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Very good! Goatsbeard gets a lot of attention b/c they look like giant dandelions. But they are interesting in their own right since some have rapidly formed new species by forming polyploid interspecies hybrids. The hybrids can cross amongst themselves, but cannot successfully cross with their original parent species since that messes up their chromosome numbers.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

leonardturner
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Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:40 am
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

Re: A look into the seed-head of a Salsify

Post by leonardturner »

Very nice!

My thanks to colohank and Mark for the id; I ran across these for the first time a couple of years ago in the Pacific Northwest. We don't have them here, and I was quite taken with them.

Leonard

colohank
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:07 pm
Location: Fruita, Colorado, USA

Re: A look into the seed-head of a Salsify

Post by colohank »

Like so many other common plants, Salsify is an Old World exotic that was either introduced here intentionally or hitched a ride in the fold of immigrants' clothing. My daughter used to collect them, treat the heads with spray-net to give them some semblance of permanence, and then displayed them in her room.

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