I've been fruitlessly trying to find a deposit of fossil echinoids. I read a while ago it was near a farm called Rafal Vell. But I couldn't found a trace of it. No matter. It was a nice walk and I found many specimens of this pretty flower instead.
Acording to Wikipedia, Leopoldia comosa (syn. Muscari comosum) is a perennial bulbous plant. Usually called the Tassel Hyacinth, it is one of a number of species and genera also known as Grape Hyacinths. It is found in rocky ground and cultivated areas, such as cornfields and vineyards, in south-east Europe to Turkey and Iran, but has naturalized elsewhere. Other common names include Tufted Grape Hyacinth, Hairy Muscari and Edible Muscari.
Described by Polunin as "a striking plant", it has a tuft of bright
blue to violet-blue sterile flowers above brownish-green fertile
flowers, which open from dark blue buds. It is this tuft which gives rise to the name "Tassel Hyacinth".
The flower stem is 20–60 cm tall; individual flowers are borne on long
stalks, purple in the case of the sterile upper flowers. Mature fertile
flowers are 5–10 mm long with stalks of this length or more and are
bell-shaped, opening at the mouth, where there are paler lobes. The
linear leaves are 5–15 mm wide, with a central channel.
Illustration by Jacob Sturm. (1771-1848)
L. comosa naturalizes easily and may become invasive. It has
spread northwards from its original distribution, for example appearing
in the British Isles in the sixteenth century. The edible bulb is eaten
in some Mediterranean countries, and under the name lampascioni inApulia and Basilicata, where it is grown for this purpose. In Greece and especially on Crete
it is considered a real delicacy and collected in the wild. The cleaned
bulbs are boiled several times, pickled and then kept in olive oil. I've never heard that anybody eat those bulbs in Menorca, but might try it one day.
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