''Leopoldia comosa'' (syn. ''Muscari comosum'') is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

bulbous plant. Usually called the tassel hyacinth or tassel grape hyacinth, it is one of a number of species and genera also known as grape hyacinths. It is found in rocky ground and cultivated areas, such as cornfields and vineyards, p. 502 (under the name ''M. comosum'') in the

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

, but has naturalized elsewhere. In southern Italy and Greece, its bulb is a culinary delicacy.

Description

Described by

Oleg Polunin Oleg Vladimirovitch Polunin (November 1914 – July 1985) was an English botanist, teacher and traveller. He was one of three sons to the artists Vladimir (born in the Russian Empire) and Elizabeth Polunin. All three sons were interested in the ...

as "a striking plant", it has a tuft of bright blue to violet-blue sterile flowers above brownish-green fertile flowers, which open from dark blue buds, reminiscent of a menorah candelabrum. This tuft gives rise to the name "

tassel A tassel is a finishing feature in fabric and clothing decoration. It is a universal ornament that is seen in varying versions in many cultures around the globe. History and use In the Hebrew Bible, the Lord spoke to Moses instructing him to ...

hyacinth"., p. 130 (under the name ''M. comosum'') The flower stem is 20–60 cm tall; individual flowers are borne on long stalks, purple in the case of the sterile upper flowers. Mature fertile flowers are 5–10 mm long with stalks of this length or more and are bell-shaped, opening at the mouth, where there are paler lobes. The linear leaves are 5–15 mm wide, with a central channel. ''Leopoldia comosa'' naturalizes easily and may become invasive. It has spread northwards from its original distribution, for example appearing in the British Isles in the 16th century. In a

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

called 'Monstrosum' or 'Plumosum', all the flowers have become branched purple stems.

Cuisine

During Roman times,

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

noted that the bulbs were eaten with vinegar, oil, and

garum Garum is a fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, ancient Greece, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantium. Liquamen is a similar preparation, and at times they were synonymous. Although garum enjoyed its gre ...

. Today, it is still eaten in some Mediterranean countries. In Apulia and Basilicata, it is cultivated and known as ''lampagioni'' or . In

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

it is called , βολβοί, βροβιοί ''volví, vrovií'' (ασκουρδαλάκοι in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

). In

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and especially on

, it is considered a delicacy and collected in the wild. The cleaned bulbs are boiled several times, pickled, and then kept in olive oil. The bulbs of the tassel hyacinth are mentioned in classical Hebrew literature under the name ''bulbūsīn''.

Tosefta The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

''Kil'ayim'' 3:11, ''et al.''

Gallery

Image:Lampascioni.jpg, , made from bulbs of ''Leopoldia comosa'', is a gastronomic specialty of the Italian regions of Basilicata and Apulia File:Insalata di lampascioni.jpg, from Basilicata, with scrambled eggs and peperoni cruschi File:Muscari comosum 1.jpg, Leaves of the plant File:Muscari comosum Sturm40.jpg, Illustration from Johann Georg Sturm (Painter: Jacob Sturm) 1796. ''Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen'', plate 40. File:M.c.Plumosum4.JPG, Ornamental cultivar 'Plumosum' File:Muscari_à_toupet_à_Djerba.jpg, Clear flower view, Djerba island, Tunisia

References

External links

Wild Flowers of the British Isles: M comosum

Scilloideae Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Root vegetables {{Asparagaceae-stub