Common Name:

General Information

Rungia klossii is a small, clumpy, much-branched perennial plant growing up to 80cm tall[]. The stems often become woody and persist for more than one year.
This is one of the main and most popular greens in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, where it is commonly grown in gardens[, ]. The plant is also grown as an ornamental in gardens[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Australasia - New Guinea.

Habitat

Not known in a truly wild situation[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.60 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics, where it is found mainly at elevations from 1,000 - 2,000 metres, though it can also be grown down to sea level[]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 17°c, but can tolerate 12 - 29°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 1,200mm, but tolerates 500 - 2,000mm[].
Prefers a sunny position[]. It prefers a reasonably fertile soil, preferably moist, but will grow in most soils[]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.2, tolerating 5 - 7[].
The plant grows reasonably slowly[].
The shoot tips and upper leaves can be harvested from about 2 - 4 months after planting out, with harvesting continuing at 1 - 2 monthly intervals for 2 years or more[]. Regular picking keeps the branches short and productive of leaves[].
The tips are picked with 2 - 3 leaves on then, each tip weighing about 0.8g. Total yields can be 2 kg/plant/year. If the plants were spaced at 50cm spacing this would give a yield of 4 kg per square metre of garden[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and young shoots - raw, cooked or used as a flavouring[, ]. The leaves are often cooked together with the leaves of Setaria palmifolia[]. After harvesting, the leaves will only keep for 2 - 3 days[].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

It is mostly grown in mixed cropping situations with sweet potato or Setaria pitpit[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Stem cuttings. The plant is grown from cuttings which are about 25cm long. A clump of stems are sown together - these often already have roots developing from the nodes, or very quickly develop roots. It can be planted at any time of the year[].

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Captcha: if i have 3 bananas, and i eat them all, how many bananas did i just eat?