Friars Cowl is one of the more unusual plants of the Dehesa.
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It is an Autumn specialist and seems to appears overnight.
Its curious flower emerges like thousands of penitent monks embarking upon a pilgrimage around the mountain.
As one moves closer to observe this ecclesiastical bloom, the curved flower takes on an almost animal sheen and the protuberant spathe cheekily pokes fun at the surrounding ecology.
This striking plant is not only an integral part of this place and a beautiful late season flower, it is also one for times of great hardship.
Its tuberous roots when cooked provide an energy rich staple in times of starvation, yet when uncooked the complex poisons set the mouth and throat on fire and can even kill.
One cannot help but wonder how our hunter gatherer ancestors ever learned the uses of such a fearsome plant.
In these times of plenty though, it once again becomes no more than a curious member of the ecology and a reminder of the changes of the seasons.
Photo: Friars Cowl at Saladaviciosa. Courtesy of the author.
I find this subject really fascinating. Obviously early humans must have come to the realization that the act of “cooking” could change the properties of potential sources of food. Even more amazing to me are instances in which food was allowed to ferment or decompose to become edible. Icelanders discovering that skinning and hanging Arctic sharks in an open air structure for some weeks would allow the rotting process to neutralize their natural antifreeze – that’s outside the box.