Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary
Grouping	Plant
Folklore	Myth based on fact
First attested	11th century
Other name(s)	Scythian Lamb, Borometz, Barometz, Borametz
Region	Central Asia
Habitat	Forests

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Latin: Agnus scythicus or Planta Tartarica Barometz^[1]) 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.

Underlying the legend is the cotton plant, which was unknown in Northern Europe before the Norman conquest of Sicily.