| Vegetable Lamb | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Other Names |
Scythian Lamb, Borometz, Barometz, Borametz |
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First Appearance |
Northern European Folklore |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary is a legendary zoophyte of Central Asia, once believed to grow sheep as its fruit. It was believed the sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the land around the plant. When all accessible foliage was gone, both the plant and sheep died.
The legendary lamb was believed to be both a true animal and a living plant. However, he states that some writers believed the lamb to be the fruit of a plant, sprouting forward from melon-like seeds. Others, however, believed the lamb to be a living member of the plant that, once separated from it, would perish. The vegetable lamb was believed to have blood, bones, and flesh like that of a normal lamb. It was connected to the earth by a stem, similar to an umbilical cord, that propped the lamb up above ground. The cord could flex downward, allowing the lamb to feed on the grass and plants surrounding it. Once the plants within reach were eaten, the lamb died. It could be eaten, once dead, and its blood supposedly tasted sweet like honey. Its wool was said to be used by the native people of its homeland to make head coverings and other articles of clothing. The only carnivorous animals attracted to the lamb plant (other than humans) were wolves.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Vegetable Lamb from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Between 1357-1371)
- La Semaine (1587)
- Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646)
- The Botanic Garden (1781)
- Encyclopédie (1751)
- The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (1887)
Notes[]
- Underlying the legend is the cotton plant, which was unknown in Northern Europe before the Norman conquest of Sicily.