Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

The Scythian lamb (also Vegetable lamb or lamb tree called ) is a mythological legendary creatures. It should have animal and plant characteristics.

Mythology

The Scythian lamb grows / lives in the land of the Scythians and Tartars.

The tree trunk on which the lamb has grown, is very flexible, so the lamb can commute back and forth to get to the surrounding grasses. Is the area around the tree trunk stripped bare, the lamb must starve. In addition to starvation, the Scythian lamb has for its delicate flesh the wolf to the natural enemy. It has also to fear the people, because this his magnificent golden fur and his magical blood ( Paleae Cibotii ) desires.

Botany

There is a plant that is reminiscent of the tree Lamb: The Tree Fern Cibotium from the family of Cyatheaceae on the Sunda Islands, in southern China and India, has a prostrate stem, is densely covered with golden-brown hair. In the Middle Ages all sorts of fables were master pieces of this fern, which coincidentally had the shape of a four-legged animal and Scythian lamb ( Agnus scythicus ) were named, told.

The hair -like South Asian Cyatheaceae find as Paku Kidang sometimes official use.