Amaranths - [family Amaranthaceae]

The Amaranths have been of culinary interest since prehistoric times the world around, but were, and may again be, of great importance in the high Andes mountains of South America. The family provides Beets, Sugar Beets, Amaranth (seeds and greens), Quinoa, Spinach and other edibles., They are important enough as food to have their own Amaranth Page on this site.

Cactus - [family Cactaceae]

Cacti are strictly New World plants, though it is possible one species thought to have been taken to Africa by migratory birds. They are an immensely interesting family specialized to survive in hot arid environments and have now been planted all over the world. They are important enough as food to have their own Cactus Page on this site.

Purslane - [family Portulacaceae]

This family of low growing succulents has worldwide distribution and has provided greens and roots in both the New and Old Worlds since prehistoric times. In Australasia the seeds have also been used to make seed cakes. These unpreposessing plants are of particular importance because they grow in poor soil and arid conditions, in both high and low altitudes. They have their own Purslane Page on this site.

Malabar Spinach - [Ceylon / Indian / Surinam / Chinese / Vietnamese Spinach; Broad Bologi, Poi Baagi, Calaloo, Buffalo Spinach; Mong Toi (Viet); Paag-Prung (Thai); Genjerot, Jingga, Gendola (Indonesia); Saan Choy (Cantonese); Shan Tsoi, Luo Kai, Shu Chieh, Lo Kwai (China); Pui Shak (Bengali); Kodip PasaLi (Tamil); Tsuru Murasa Kai (Japan); family Basellaceae, Basella alba]

Not related to regular spinach but rather to cactus and purslane (order Caryophyllales (Carnations)), this plant has a similar flavor to spinach, but milder without so much oxalic acid. The leaves are thick, almost succulent. One cultivar, "Rubra", has red stems.

While regular spinach is a cool temperate plant which doesn't like the tropics at all, Malabar Spinach is a tropical vine. A fast growing perennial, it is harvested continuously by cutting new growth. It can be grown as an annual in warmer temperate regions. Details and Cooking.

Olluco - [Uluuco; Papa lisa (South America); Melloco (Ecuador); Olluco (Peru); Chugua (Colombia); Ruba (Venezuela); family Basellaceae, Ullucus tuberosus]

Native to the Andes mountains where it is cultivated second only to potatoes, both the leaves (similar to spinach) and the root tubers (similar to potatoes) are used as food. A characteristic of the tubers is that, unlike potatoes, they remain crisp even after they are fully cooked. The tubers are also pickled and added to hot sauces.   Watercolor by Sir William Jackson Hooker, copyright expired.

New Zealand Spinach - [Warrigal Greens, Sea Spinach, Botany Bay Spinach, Tetragon, Cook's Cabbage; Kokihi (Maori); family Aizoaceae, Tetragonia tetragonioides]

Native to New Zealand and Australia, this plant is sometimes used as an ornamental ground cover, but it's also edible. There is little evidence the native Maori ate the stuff, but after Captain Cook discovered it he used it fresh and pickled to ward off scurvy in his crew. He took seeds to England and it was soon grown there, in France and in North America, but faded out during the 20th century.

Today New Zealand spinach is grown by home gardeners in the summer when regular spinach won't grow. It's not a commercial crop in California but is grown commercially in the tropical Americas. Unlike Malabar Spinach which grows long and likes to be trellised, New Zealand is low and spreading. It is usually cooked but can also be used raw in salads.   Photo by US Geological Survey = public domain.

Mauca - [Mauka, Chago, family Nyctaginaceae, Mirabilis expansa]

Native to the Andes mountains where it was once an important food crop for the Inca. Once thought to be a "lost crop", it was rediscovered by science in the 1960s and 1970s growing in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. It is notable for growing well under conditions too harsh for most food crops. The leaves are used raw in salads or cooked as greens, The root tubers, which can grow up to a few pounds, must be sun dried to remove bitterness and astringency, and it then becomes quite sweet. Water from cooking the tubers makes a delicious drink..   Photo from recipes.wikia.com, licensing unclear.

Pokeweed - [Pokeberry, Inkberry, family Phytolaccaceae, Phytolacca americana (North America), Phytolacca esculenta (photo) and others]

This generally toxic plant is important to the culinary culture of the American South. Young leaves can be eaten as "Poke Salit" after being boiled in three changes of water. The seeds are quite toxic but the berries are less so, and can be eaten and used to make pies after cooking.

Fermented pokeberry juice has been used as ink, and the United States Declaration of Independence as well as many Civil War era letters were written with this juice.   Photo by Algirdas contributed to the public domain.

Venus Flytrap - [family Droseraceae, Dionaea muscipula]

Nothing to eat here - it's the one that does the eating. I've included it here as an example of just how diverse the order Caryophyllales is. Carnivorous habits were developed by several families of this order to allow them to flourish in nutrient starved environments.   Photo by tato grasso distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike v2.5.

Ice Plant - [Freeway Plant (California); Hottentot Fig, Sour Fig (South Africa); family Aizoaceae, Carpobrotus edulis]

People started using this plant as groundcover at home. It was easy, just snap off a piece from a freeway onramp and plant it - but problems were soon realized. In the better watered home environment it attracted masses of slugs and snails. Then the rats came, appreciating the excellent cover, tasty fruits and delicious snails - and they spread the seeds far and wide. Meanwhile the plant took over every square inch of ground and spread across walkways and steps. Still, that's better than in South Africa where it's also infested with Puff-adders, Cape Cobras and other snakes intent on a dinner of fat tasty rat.

Caltrans stopped using it in the 1970s because it was becoming an aggressive invasive in the coastal environment - but there's still thousands of acres of it - and it's presenting the same problems in Australia and the Mediterranean region.

Chickweed - [Chickenwort, Craches, Maruns, Winterweed; family Caryophyllaceae, Stellaria media]

Sand Verbinas - [family Nyctaginaceae, Abronia latifolla (yellow), Abronia fragrans (white)]

Native to the western United States, the sand verbinas produce edible roots that may be as large as 24 inches long. The yellow sand verbina is native to the coastal region from Southern California to the Canadian border. The white is native to the mountain west through about the same latitudes.   Photo by United States Department of Parks and Recreation = public domain.

Carnations - [Clove Pink, family Caryophyllaceae, Dianthus caryophyllus]

I would be remiss not to include the Carnation itself, even though it is not much eaten - after all, it gave it's species name to the entire order. It is thought to be native to the Mediterranean region but this is not certain because it's been in cultivation for at least 2000 years.