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Microseris scapigera
Also called Native Dandelion, Native Scorzonera, Native Yam
Microseris scapigera is a yellow-flowered daisy, a perennial herb, found in New Zealand and Australia. It is the only New Zealand species of Microseris, and one of three Australian species along with Microseris lanceolata and Microseris walteri. It is classified into a group of plants, the tribe Cichorieae, that includes chicory and dandelion.
The murnong or "yam daisy" has been referred to as M. scapigera, M. lanceolata, or M. forsteri, but is now classified as M. walteri.
Plants of Microseris scapigera sensu have no tubers, but roots that are "fleshy, only slightly fibrous, and slightly, but tolerably bitter when eaten raw". Indigenous Australians may have eaten this plant also, but historical sources describe murnong as a sweet tuber. The bitterness in Microseris scapigera roots can be removed by blanching the roots in boiling water for 5 minutes, before consumption or further cooking.
Sierra foothill silverpuffs · Coastal silverpuffs · San Joaquin silverpuffs · Douglas' silverpuffs · Elegant silverpuffs · Microseris heterocarpa · Cutleaf silverpuffs · Yam Daisy · Nodding microseris · Marsh silverpuffs · Sylvan scorzonella · Yam Daisy
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Microseris scapigera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
