Helianthus tuberosus

This interesting selection develops dark purple stems if grown in full sun, which the variety prefers. Even stranger, the tubers can develop a dark purple point a few hours after lifting. Not all tubers will do this but some in every batch will, allowing one to identify this type without fail in a line up.

This variety has huge potential as more than just a human food as it is all round tough, and a strong runner.

We see it being naturalized in moist sections of a farm or smallholding as a forage crop, not only are the above ground parts very nutritious and palatable to grazing livestock in summer with an average protein content of 33.3%, the copious amounts of tubers formed below ground are known to be very nutritious and palatable to rooting livestock such as pigs. And once its properly established in an area the animals will not wipe it out easily if at all. This makes it exceptionally useful to people looking to have pastured pigs with access to nutritious food in the off season.

Plett Purple is an exceptionally high inulin variety, so if you were thinking of farming a variety to make extracts, herbals and supplements this is the one to plant!

It is of course also extremely tasty, but a bit windier than the other varieties on the catalogue this season!

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