Discover the Navel-of-Venus, a fleshy plant ideal in salad
As a child, I hardly had the opportunity to meet this wonder. It was only on the old siliceous stone walls of the heights overlooking Vichy, where my grandparents lived, that I could admire them.
I was content to nibble on the fleshy, juicy and tangy leaves. It was not until later that I discovered the potential “salads-Que” by picking them abound on the shaded and humid rocks of Brittany, Corsica or the Mountains of Lyonnais. I met various sizes, the size of a piece of a franc to that of a saucer. And I made all kinds of salads. Excellent base for summer compositions, I mix the most varied ingredients – lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese or olives: everything goes perfectly. The Navel-of-Venus offers this alliance of freshness, tender and crunchy which counterbalances the generosity of richer dishes. I am surprised that it is not better known: it is really one of the best plants for our summer salads.
A HIGHUTE that keeps water
The simple observation of the leaves of this curious plant explains its name: they are round, with a depression in the center, where the petiole attaches on the underside. The evocation of a navel, umbilicus In Latin (which also means “small circle”) falls under the meaning. Is it as beautiful as that of Venus?
Botanists use in any case the term “umbilicked” to describe this form of sheet. Their fleshy side is an adaptation to the conditions which reigns in the particular environment where the plant grows, which allows it to store water in the event of prolonged drought – it is the same principle as adopted by the cacti of the deserts of America. The epithet Rupestris indicates his home on the walls, roughness in Latin.
One of my favorite games consists in delicately removing the epidermis from a sheet of umbilicus, which requires a certain fingering, and to place it on my skin where it sticks. Beyond fun, it is a good way to help wounds to heal or calm burns … In fact, the plant acts, it seems, like the famous aloe (aloe vera) whose frost has renowned therapeutic properties. And we can’t do it anymore!
First publication of this text in the magazine Plants and health.
What are the characteristics of the Navel-of-Venus?
When the plant develops, one or more erect stems appear at its top with their base leaves of reduced size and a long cluster of yellowish flowers, sometimes reddish. Aesthetics, these inflorescences are bitter and not very pleasant to eat.
It is rich in mucilage, which gives it softening virtues. Its acidic taste comes from organic acids that accumulate during the particular photosynthesis of the plant: we speak of “Crassulacean acid metabolism”, named family, crash. Crassus In Latin means “fleshy” … and most of its members are indeed.
