haldol said: Ma means horse, Lan means orchid, Tou means head. I lived in China for many years. This is served primarily in the early spring, freshly chopped fine with added dried tofu and sesame oil. Incredibly delicious dish.
I would love to have this plant in my garden. If anyone is interested in sharing, I would appreciate it!
Haha, thank you for this correction. That makes much sense, 马兰头 is very very vigorous. I harvest it in early spring before its bloom stalks mature. If you are in the US, there is likely a chance you may find it for sale if you ask. While I can't ship plants at the moment, ma lan tou ships very well bare root. I have so much of it that despite cutting it in batches to make dishes with it, there is still enough left to have quite a lot of it go to flower.
Oh, and just a heads up, be careful where you plant it. It sends out plenty stolon and readily jumps out of flower beds to invade new territory. Lovely flowers though.
I also grow 青蒿.
