Jack Go To Bed At Noon
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Is that the same glove that features in your favicon VP? The effect is making me feel dizzy :)
ReplyDeleteHi Anna - no it's about 5-10 minutes walk away from there. It's a mirrored bowl that's outside some offices just before you get to Queen Square in Bristol. You can see part of Queen Square, plus the Hole in the Wall pub and the River Station and SevenShed restaurants. The restaurants are dockside.
ReplyDeleteThis used to be part of my walking route to/from work.