Post by stevil on Nov 14, 2008 12:31:14 GMT -5
A friend here in Norway sent me the picture below of one of his Oca tubers that he's just harvested. Unlike all the other tubers, this one looks as though it has been run over (flattened). He tells me that it was growing in sandy soil and there was nothing in the soil which would have forced it into this shape...
www.hagepraten.no/gallery/pic.php?mode=large&pic_id=1031
My thoughts went immediately to whether this could be related to fasciation which occurs fairly commonly on above ground parts of plants. The following Wikipedia article confirms that it can also occur on roots: ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciation)
What do the experts think? Certainly an unusual vegetable....
If there are any other fasciation freaks here, I might be persuaded to post a few more of my collection of "fasciated edibles" pictures....
www.hagepraten.no/gallery/pic.php?mode=large&pic_id=1031
My thoughts went immediately to whether this could be related to fasciation which occurs fairly commonly on above ground parts of plants. The following Wikipedia article confirms that it can also occur on roots: ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciation)
What do the experts think? Certainly an unusual vegetable....
If there are any other fasciation freaks here, I might be persuaded to post a few more of my collection of "fasciated edibles" pictures....
. This one was harvested in 2007, I replanted it and I checked the plants regurarly, only round and 'true' ocas are being produced. I doubt whether this is fasciation, I think it's just some kind of a stress that occured on this particular tuber that changed the development of the tuber. I have had other sort of clusters of ocas as well, but this one was the most extraordinary. The one on your friends picture looks flatter, like someone walked on it. Maybe he wants to create a new variety??? I do see some very small tuber development just over the top half of the tuber, it probably would have developed into something really odd-shaped if it would have been harvested later.