Something for Moraea lovers!
Mary Sue Ittner (Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:51:25 PST)

Some of the Homerias (now part of Moraea) are supposed to be toxic to stock
which is why they are banned in most of the US. I related a story earlier
in the year of a spotted towhee that had developed a taste for Moraea
bellendenii. How it discovered it was edible I don't know. But the bird
would dig around in the spot where there were corms until they were
uncovered and them smash them with its feet before eating them. I believe
this is a North American bird and don't know if Moraea corms have been
eaten by South African birds. This particular species tends to divide into
quite a lot of smaller corms so I just let the bird go after them. It was
so fascinating watching it in action. I don't know if they improved in
taste when they were crushed or just easier to eat. It happened on more
than one day in the same spot so it wasn't an isolated incident. I'm not
sure this would make me brave enough to try eating them myself however.

Mary Sue