Puzzles

[Maggi Young]

Now, these cousins are Medicago types, are they not? 

Yes

Thanks.... not that I'm any the wiser.......

[Ragged Robin]

Mark, you've photographed this plant and must have some idea of it's identity...or just a little clue 

[Armin]

my final proposal to solve the puzzle: Scorpiurus subvillosus 

[Martin Baxendale]

Scorpiurus muricatus. Scorpion and sea-scorpion.

[Stephenb]

Excitement is building. We may have a winner, but some nomenclature issues have arisen. Please wait while I consult the jury....

In the meantime here is the plant in flower:

[Stephenb]

In case of a tie-break, why would I laugh when serving this?

[Martin Baxendale]

It was Armin who cracked it. I just read his post suggesting scorpiurus and thought "Scorpion/sea scorpion - that's it" then googled Armin's suggestion of scorpiurus to find pics of Scorpiurus muricatus.

[ranunculus]

Admission : "I've never heard of it".

Excellent puzzle, educated answer, erudite forum.

[Ragged Robin]

A real teaser Stephen, you played us along nicely with several twist and turns - it is a fascinating looking plant and I hope you'll tell us more a out why you eat it and laugh - or is there another sting in the tail 

Congratulations to Armin for guessing the mystery plant!

[Armin]

It was a hard web research to find a solution! After it was not Medicago I looked into Leguminosae. But the difficulty was to find the clue for a vegetable. Finally I utilized Mark's hint and searched in the Flora of Majorca which revealed me the solution.
http://www.botanik-bochum.de/mallorca2008/bilderkrauter.htm

A very good puzzle! It was a great fun.

I don't know what is the latest taxonomy S. muricatus or S. subvillosus. Both are synonyms is my understanding.
So Martin found the "sea beasty".

Stephen,
please reveal us the recipes of the old English dish or how do you use it in your kitchen?
How is the taste of the vegetarian scorpions?

[Graham Catlow]

A very good puzzle Stephen
Armin, I followed the same route as you did but didn't find the web site that gave you the answer.

Stephen the reason you laugh when serving this is many people think there is a caterpllar in their food as it is supposed to look like one to anyone that doesn't know what it is.
I found that via google.

I will solve one of these one day but it might have to be easier than that.

Graham

[Ragged Robin]

I tried to find flora of Majorca and got lost in Mediterranen plants and wasteland . The website you found is great Armin and in English too, which is a bonus  .

Just one last thing - what happened to the recipe with cucumber that it was used in 100 years ago in the UK?

Graham, I'm sure you are right about the caterpillar look alike in Stephen's salad 

[Stephenb]

Congratulations, Armin. Even though it wasn't the correct species it's near enough! My plant is Scorpiurus vermiculatus (Prickly Scorpion's Tail) which as far as I can see can only be separated by having single flowers, the seed pod being very similar (NB! vermiculatus = worm-like).

Yes, Graham got how they are used right too! I have read (but would love a proper reference) that the Victorians (and some more recent jokers too) were fond of practical jokes and would add various plant parts that resembled caterpillars, snails, worms etc to their salads (which might also include cucumber). I call them collectively Joke Plants. Another Joke plant I posted a picture of earlier is the Snail Medick (Medicago scutellata). Yet another that can be used is the Chinese Artichoke (bottom), but not ready at the same time as the others..

Glad you enjoyed it - I did

Now, why doesn't anyone come to dinner anymore...

[Armin]

Stephen,
are your sure you have S. vermiculatus? Literature on the 2 species is contrary. I've found a link with seed pictures in comparison

http://www.thysanotus-samenversand.de/contents/de/d40.html

[Stephenb]

No, I'm not sure. This is the name that I received it as. However, I checked in a Mediterranean flora that had both and this said that there were only minor differences between vermiculatus and muricatus. In the Flora Italia site, vermiculatus is called Single-flowered Scorpiurus (as in my plant) (the drawing at the bottom of this page looks like my plant - http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/scorpiurus.htm).

The German site was very interesting - haven't seen these hairy caterpillars offered before as vegetables.  The seedpods shown have much thicker, not spiny seed pods. In fact, I've grown this same plant a couple of times in the past and looking at my notes I have received it as vermiculatus.

In conclusion, I'm confused...

Here's another picture I found showing both in a botanical garden together with Astragalus humosus at the bottom (I had noted S. vermiculatus and muricatus)