New zealand spinach

Overview

Not a true spinach but a heat-tolerant alternative that produces succulent, triangular leaves throughout the hottest months when regular spinach has long bolted. This coastal plant from New Zealand and Australia was collected by Captain Cook's crew as a scurvy preventive. Its waxy leaves are more succulent than spinach and thrive in conditions too hot and dry for conventional greens.

Tetragonia tetragonioides, commonly called New Zealand spinach, warrigal greens and other local names, is a flowering plant in the fig-marigold family (Aizoaceae). It is often cultivated as a leafy vegetable. The plant has a trailing habit, and will form a thick carpet on the ground or climb through other vegetation and hang downwards. It can have erect growth when young. The leaves of the plant are 3–15 cm long, triangular in shape, and bright green. The leaves are thick, and covered with tiny papillae that look like waterdrops on the top and bottom of the leaves. The flowers of the plant are yellow, and the fruit are small, hard capsules each with 4–10 horned seeds.

Sphaeraphides are found in at least the leaves, calyx and ovary. Prussian naturalist Peter Pallas described the species as Demidovia tetragonoides in 1781. German botanist Otto Kuntze placed the species in the genus Tetragonia in his 1891 work Revisio Generum Plantarum, resulting in its current binomial name.

This widely distributed plant has many common names, depending on its location. In addition to the name New Zealand spinach, it is also known as Botany Bay spinach, Cook's cabbage, kōkihi (in Māori), sea spinach, and tetragon. Its Australian names of Warrigal Greens and Warrigal Cabbage come from the local use of warrigal to describe plants that are wild (not farmed originally).

It is grown for the edible leaves, and can be used as food or an ornamental plant for ground cover. It can be an annual or perennial. As some of its names signify, it has similar flavour and texture properties to spinach, and is cooked like spinach. Like spinach, it contains oxalates; its medium to low levels of oxalates need to be removed by blanching the leaves in hot water for one minute, then rinsing in cold water before cooking. It thrives in hot weather, and is considered an heirloom vegetable. Few insects consume it, and even slugs and snails do not seem to feed on it.

The thick, irregularly-shaped seeds should be planted just after the last spring frost. Before planting, the seeds should be soaked for 12 hours in cold water, or 3 hours in warm water. Seeds should be planted 5–10 mm deep, and spaced 15–30 cm apart. The seedlings will emerge in 10–20 days, and it will continue to produce greens through the summer. Mature plant will self-seed. Seeds will overwinter up to USDA zone 5.

The species, rarely used by indigenous people as a leaf vegetable, was first documented by Captain Cook. It was immediately picked, cooked, and pickled to help fight scurvy, and taken with other vegetables to prevent deficiency.

Mentioned in The Mycelial Grimoire

Posts on the Grimoire that reference New zealand spinach.

Growing Conditions

Habitat & Range

Habitat

Meadows & Open Areas

Native Range

eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand

Cultivation Region

Subtropical to tropical

Botanical data via projectGAIA.

Companion Planting & Soil

Sowing & Propagation

Planting Calendar

When to sow, transplant, and harvest by growing zone.

Uses

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