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Post by billw on Jan 12, 2017 23:57:13 GMT -5
Has anyone else grown this plant? I received some in trade last year and I was fairly impressed. First of all, it is the only native Australian root that I've ever grown that really produced anything. Second, it tasted pretty good. Unfortunately, the roots are very small, but I'm sure they can be improved. It germinated easily and grew very well in the Pacific Northwest. I was impressed enough that I just spent a fortune on shipping to buy some seeds from the only other source I could find. Let the breeding commence.  |
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Post by steev on Jan 13, 2017 2:07:50 GMT -5
Spent a fortune, eh? Well, doubtless "casting your bread upon the waters" will return you a sandwich, or a duck, both good results.
Was it not possible to get seed from the plants you first got? If so, why not?
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Post by raymondo on Jan 13, 2017 3:26:04 GMT -5
Where did you source your seeds billw? |
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Post by nicollas on Jan 13, 2017 4:25:50 GMT -5
So it is a perennial but onr has to destroy the plant to harvest right ?
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Post by billw on Jan 13, 2017 14:44:44 GMT -5
Going in order here: I bought more seeds to hopefully get a little more diversity. The seeds that I started with were all collected from a single plant. My original seeds came second hand, but were collected near Brisbane. I just bought a second batch from herbalistics.com.au/product/trachymene-incisa-wild-parsnip-seed/It is a perennial with a structure like a carrot, so yes, you have to pull the plant. It sounds like it may regrow from broken roots in the wild, so that is something to test. It might be possible to break off the lower root and replant it. |
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Post by raymondo on Jan 13, 2017 16:18:07 GMT -5
Thanks billw. It seems this plant has a western cousin, Trachymene pilosa, also called native parsnip. It appears to be a little smaller and an annual rather than perennial. Just out of curiosity I might try them both. I've tried two other native roots: Dichopogon fimbriata, nodding chocolate lily and Microseris lanceolata, yam daisy or myrnong. The former is pleasant to eat but very small while the latter is larger but horribly bitter. Myrnong was a staple of the indegenous people who lived in what is now the state of Victoria. Cattle and sheep also love it. I suspect that the local version was always bitter because as far as I know there is no record of it being a food of the local indigenous people. Good luck with the new project. |
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Post by templeton on Jan 13, 2017 18:02:10 GMT -5
Never heard of this one. A quick check of herbarium records shows a real stronghold in NE NSW Ray. It occurs up to Noosa, so i might check with a friend up that way to see if they have records/seeds.
T
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Post by billw on Jan 13, 2017 18:42:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I've tried myrnong several times and even have a few roots still going in a pot. I've never been able to taste it. I think my climate is too cool for it. Based on your description, I'm not missing anything.
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Post by templeton on Jan 13, 2017 18:54:32 GMT -5
myrnong has recently been re-done. there are a range of different species now. Used to be steamed in baskets yielding sweet juice i've read. I suspect there might be timing issues regarding harvest. I need to read up more on the recent split.
I grew out some seed this year that was 5-6 years old, but was too busy to plant out the seedlings.
T
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Post by rowan on Jan 13, 2017 18:54:36 GMT -5
I have found murnong very mild and pleasant to eat - pity it is so difficult to grow. I have given up on it.
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Post by raymondo on Jan 14, 2017 0:08:34 GMT -5
Interesting. I've read now in several places that myrnong is difficult to grow. Not so with our local version. Pity its so awful! T's news that there has been some work done on looking at species suggests that the southern myrnong, the pleasant to eat one, is indeed diffrent to our local one.
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Post by steev on Jan 14, 2017 0:54:47 GMT -5
Well, wouldn't you expect the awful one to be the one left alone and generally successful? I mean, people would eat the good one, possibly to extinction, if they could, before getting a grip on sustainability. That's happened often enough: no giant ground sloths in North America, no moas in New Zealand, no dodoes in Madagascar; I'll stop; I think my point is made. Sounds like a "smart" plant, to me.
Poor sessile plants can't get away, so they develop aversive defenses against their predators; why would humans be different from insects or (other) animals, in that regard?
The only plants/animals that sustainably serve our interests are those to whose interests we cater. In short, it's either mutual interest or it doesn't go well for at least one of the participants.
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Post by raymondo on Jan 14, 2017 15:58:01 GMT -5
Well, wouldn't you expect the awful one to be the one left alone and generally successful? ... Yes indeed, though I think the decimation of the tasty ones was more due to livestock than humans overeating it. In any case, I think the two populations are probably different because the more southern population was recorded as being a staple among the indigenous peoples there while here where I live, almost 1000km further north, there was no such record. Sheep and cattle still munch happily on it though and it is a plant we are happy to see on the farm. |
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Post by templeton on Feb 3, 2017 22:13:13 GMT -5
I've found myrnong easy to propagate from seed - but i've never bothered to grow it on to eating stage. The wild ones I've eaten are bitter - i wonder if a ferment would help? Beth Gott wrote a series of papers on myrnong for those interested. sorry for drifting away from the parsnip...
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Post by rowan on Feb 3, 2017 23:09:39 GMT -5
I have always found myrnong tasty, but I have only eaten the mainland variety, maybe the Tasmanian species is not so much.
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