RE: Sarsparilla
well ,cali,
i never thought you could eat zarzaparrilla!!!
there is no shortage of it arround here.
now, how do you eat it in corfú?
I can´t wait till I see some young shoots
francisco
barcelona spain
-----Mensaje original-----
De: Doxiadis/Malefakis <gastouri@ker.forthnet.gr>
Para: dave-poole@ilsham.demon.co.uk <dave-poole@ilsham.demon.co.uk>
CC: Mediterranean Plants <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Fecha: miιrcoles, 15 de septiembre de 1999 19:47
Asunto: Re: Sarsparilla
>Dear David--
>I think someone in Corfu must have been playing a joke on you. My
>husband and I plus some unlucky houseguests spent two weeks last June
>hacking away at thick braids of wire-strength sarsparilla fronds that
>had overtaken a small copse of youngish oak-trees on our land. Believe
>me it can be a menace. I hate to think what it might do in your
>climate.
>Yes the shoots are quite good (local name "ovriEs") to eat but not
>nearly as good as wild asparagus ("sparAngia") that some people confuse
>it with.
>Sorry about that
>Cali Doxiadis
>Corfu, Greece
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>Da
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>
>vid Poole wrote:
>>
>> Earlier this year, I was sent a very odd looking seedling, barely an
>> inch high. Seed had been collected in Corfu the previous autumn and a
>> few plants of this, together with an as yet unidentified Yucca arose
>> from late winter sowings. At first it was difficult to identify, but
>> as its leaves developed it became apparent that this is Smilax aspera
>> 'Maculata' a lightly variegated form of 'Prickly Ivy' or
>> 'Sarsparilla'.
>>
>> The glossy, unequally heart shaped, leathery leaves with their
>> accompanying pair of tendrils at the base of the petiole are lightly
>> mottled with paler green in a most attractive fashion. Does anyone
>> know whether this form is a geographical variant more commonly found
>> in the eastern mediterranean or does it occur sporadically throughout
>> its range?
>>
>> After a rather slow start where the initial shoot struggled to about
>> three inches high, a second, more vigorous shoot appeared from the
>> rootstock which given support, has scrambled to over 2 feet in a very
>> few weeks. I understand that the young shoots are also eaten like
>> asparagus. I've yet to decide whether to plant this in a 'wild area'
>> or give it a more 'select' position. I suspect it will be happier
>> growing in the thin, rubbly soil of my dump area where it can drape
>> itself over the various shrubs growing there.
>>
>> Dave Poole
>> TORQUAY UK
>
