Know your Salsify

The vegetable called salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius), purple salsify, oyster plant or goatsbeard, is a flowering plant in the sunflower family Asteraceae which has over 140 species, which includes a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds.

As it is a biennial, salsify flowers and goes to seed in the second year.

The cream or white vegetable root, similar in appearance to a thin parsnip, is described as having the taste of oysters (hence the alternative common name "oyster plant"), but more insipid with a touch of sweetness.

From the top of the salsify, green, grass-like shoots emerge. These leaves are edible and can be used in salads, for example.

Salsify is a hearty plant that requires approximately 150 days to grow. However, it can be left in the ground during the winter months and will still flourish.

When cultivated for a few years, salsify will also produce stalks that bear purple flowers.

Salsify has two culinary varieties which are named Salsify 'French Blue Flowered' and the Salsify 'Mammoth Sandwich Island'.

It is cultivated in Central and Southern Europe, the United States, and in Asia (Taiwan), and is said to have originated in the Mediterranean.

Other species are also used for culinary purposes in the same way, including the black or Spanish salsify, Scorzonera hispanica, which is closely related though not a member of the genus Tragopogon.