In the time of gardener and collector John Tradescant (1580-1638) scientists believed that in the south of Russia lived a creature which was half-lamb, half-plant. The ‘Vegetable Lamb’ was believed to grow on the stalk of the plant eating all of the vegetation around it before dying. In fact, these were the roots of a fern, arranged to resemble the imagined creature.
Ref: 1996.231