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Useful Tropical Plants

Tetragonia decumbens

Mill.

Aizoaceae

+ Synonyms

Aizoon perfoliatum L.f.

Tetragonia obovata Haw.

Tetragonia perfoliata (L.f.) Druce

Tetragonia tetrapteris Haw.

Tetragonia zeyheri Fenzl

Common Name:

Tetragonia decumbens
Flowering stem
Photograph by: Fagg, M.
Image credit to Australian National Botanic Gardens
Tetragonia decumbens Tetragonia decumbens Tetragonia decumbens

General Information

Tetragonia decumbens is a low-growing, spreading, evergreen, succulent, perennial plant. The stems run horizontally, rooting at intervals and ascending up to 50cm tall. The branches often become woody at their base.
The edible leaves are sometimes harvested from the wild for local consumption. The plant is a valuable binder of sandy soils.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References


Range

Southern Africa - southern Namibia, S. Africa.

Habitat

Coastal sand dunes[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *  *
Other Uses Rating *  *  *
HabitEvergreen Perennial
Height0.30 m
Cultivation StatusCultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details


Requires a sunny position in a well-drained, preferably sandy soil[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
].

Edible Uses

Leaves - raw or cooked[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. Used as a substitute for spinach[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. A slightly salty flavour raw, the cooked leaves have a rather bland flavour and so are often combined with a few acid-tasting leaves, such as Oxalis pes-caprae[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
]. New growth, mainly produced during the rainy season, is best[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
]. The leaves need to be thoroughly washed in order to get rid of the clinging sand[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

An early colonizer of moist sand dunes, it is an extremely valuable plant for stabilizing moving sand. It acts as a seed-trap and also provides organic matter that enables other species to grow on the dunes. The accumulation of plant matter such as that of Tetragonia decumbens, and the subsequent establishment of other plants, enable dunes to develop from fore-dunes to rear dunes that are stabilized by increasing plant growth[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Division of the running stems, making sure each section has some roots[
295
Title
PlantZAfrica.com
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.plantzafrica.com
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
].
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-28. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Tetragonia+decumbens>

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