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Common Name: New Zealand Spinach

General Information

Tetragonia tetragonoides is a Evergreen Perennial up to 0.20 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Australia - South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales. New Zealand.

Habitat

Coastal sand dunes and stony beaches on North South and Stewart Islands of New Zealand[]. Sheltered beaches, salt marshes and arid plains in Australia[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	0.20 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Easily grown in the garden[], it prefers a light soil in a sunny position[, ] and thrives in dry soils[]. It grows best in a good rich soil[]. Once established, the plants tolerate drought[]. Plants are very tolerant of hot, dry conditions but cannot tolerate frost[]. Although very drought tolerant, the plants produce a better quality crop if they are given some water in dry weather[].
New Zealand spinach is occasionally cultivated in gardens for its edible leaves, it is an excellent spinach substitute for hot dry weather conditions[]. A perennial plant in its native habitat, but it is usually killed by the cold in British winters and so is grown as an annual[]. In the Tropics it is occasionally cultivated in the cool season as a spinach[].

Edible Uses

Leaves - raw or cooked. A spinach substitute[], the shoot tips are harvested when about 8cm long, this encourages plenty of side growth with lots more shoots to harvest[]. A delicious substitute for spinach, the very young leaves and shoots can also be eaten raw in salads[, ]. The young leaves are best, older leaves developing an acrid taste.

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

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[].
Seed can also be sown in situ in late spring, though this will not generally make such good plants[, ].
The seed can be slow to germinate, soaking in warm water for 24 hours prior to sowing may help[, ].