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Aizoaceae FAMILY

Tetragonia tetragonoides

Tetragonia tetragonoides

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant contains calcium oxylate and saponins. Perfectly alright in small quantities, leaves containing oxalic acid should not be eaten in large amounts since it can lock-up other nutrients in the food, especially calcium, thus causing mineral deficiencies. The oxalic acid content will be reduced if the plant is cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[1]. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of raw foods that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[PFAF].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Annual/Perennial
GrowthFast

New Zealand spinach is a plant of the warm temperate zone to the tropics. It does not grow well in lowland areas of the tropics, but is cultivated at elevations above 600 metres and does best at 1,000 - 1,700 metres[2, 3, 4]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 19 - 28°c, but can tolerate 10 - 36°c[4]. The plant cannot tolerate frost[5]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 900 - 1,200mm, but tolerates 700 - 3,000mm[4]. Easily grown in the garden[6], it prefers a light soil in a sunny position[7, 8] and thrives in dry soils[9]. It grows best in a good rich soil[10]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7, tolerating 6 - 7.5[4]. Once established, the plants are very tolerant of drought[5]. Plants are very tolerant of hot, dry conditions but cannot tolerate frost[5]. Although very drought tolerant, the plants produce a better quality crop if they are given some water in dry weather[2]. A very reliable crop that produces a good bulk of leaves and is little troubled by pests[3]. Harvesting of the terminal shoots may begin 2 - 3 months after sowing the seed and continue for several months to a few years[4]. Yields per harvest can be 2.5 tonnes per hectare, equivalent to 2.5 kilos per square metre per harvest or 30 tonnes per hectare per year[4]. There is at least one named variety[11].

Propagation

Seed - sow early to mid spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frost[9]. Seed can also be sown in situ in late spring, though this will not generally make such good plants[9, PFAF]. The seed can be slow to germinate, soaking in warm water for 24 hours prior to sowing may help[9, 5]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tetragonia+tetragonoides>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  2. [2]Vegetables — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Macmillan Reference Books, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0 333 62640 0 ↩︎Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.
  3. [3]Edible Leaves of the Tropics — Martin. F. W.; Ruberte. R. M. & Meitzner. L. S. · Echo. USA. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9653360-1-8 ↩︎A terse guide, giving reasonable detail on the more common leaf crops and brief information on a wide range of lesser known plants.
  4. [4]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]Wild Food Plants of Australia. — Low. T. · Angus and Robertson. · 1989 · ISBN 0-207-14383-8 ↩︎Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast
  7. [7]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  8. [8]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  9. [9]Rare Vegetables for Garden and Table. — Organ. J. · Faber · 1960 · ISBN - ↩︎Unusual vegetables that can be grown outdoors in Britain. A good guide.
  10. [10]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  11. [11]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  12. [12]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  13. [13]Flora of New Zealand. — Allan. H. H. · Government Printer, Wellington. · 1961 · http://floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz/pages/Book.aspx?fileName=Flora%201.xml · ISBN - ↩︎The standard work, in 5 volumes though only the first two are of interest to the plant project. Very good on habitats. There is also an on-line version.
  14. [14]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  15. [15]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  16. [16]Bush Foods of New South Wales — Stewart S.; Percival B. · Royal Botanic gardens; Sydney, Australia. · 1997 · http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/education/Resources/bush_foods · ISBN 07313-0004-1 ↩︎A small booklet with information on more than 30 species of edible plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  17. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎