or oyster plant or vegetable oyster
Biennial herbaceous plant ( Tragopogon porrifolius ) of the composite family , native to the Mediterranean.
The thick white taproot is cooked as a vegetable and tastes somewhat like oysters. The plant has purple flowers and narrow leaves whose bases usually clasp the stem. Goatsbeard, or meadow salsify ( T. pratensis ), is a weedy European species, naturalized in North America, that has a large yellow flower head. It is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental, and its leaves, flowers, and roots are sometimes eaten in salads.