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The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary or Barometz is a legendary zoophyte (see flora fauna) of Central Asia, once believed to grow sheep as its fruit. Underlying the legend is the cotton plant, which was unknown in Northern Europe before the Norman conquest of Sicily.

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.

Vegetable Lamb of Tartary - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia