Purple Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius)

Purple Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) is one of the most widely known species of the salsify genus. The plant is a biennial belonging to the same family of plants as chicory and dandelion. It is grown as an annual with culture similar to that for parsnips or carrots. The long, slender, pointed, smooth, flat leaves are about 1 inch in diameter at the crown and are 10-12 inches long. Roots are 8-12 inches long, cylindrical, 1 inch or less in diameter, and salmon or brown in colour. Older roots possess a white, milky white sap.

It is grown for the edible root which has a flavour like that of oysters. The plant has also been used in herbalism, also since classical times, and is claimed to have beneficial effects on the liver and gall bladder. The root is regarded as a diuretic.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Asterales
Family : Asteraceae
Genus : Tragopogon
Species : Tragopogon porrifolius

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Asteraceae (ass-ter-AY-see-ay) - The Aster (daisy) family; formerly Compositae.
• Tragopogon (tra-go-POH-gon) - Goat’s beard.
• porrifolius (po-ree-FOH-lee-us) - Leek-like leaves.

Common Names:

• Purple Salsify, Common Salsify, Goat’s Beard Salsify, Oyster Plant, Vegetable Oyster, Wild Quinine

Links:

• Plants for a future - Purple Salsify
• University of Florida : IFAS Extension - Purple Salsify

Image Courtesy of Manuel M. Ramos.

Malabar Spinach (Basella alba)

Malabar Spinach (Basella alba) is a perennial vine found in the tropics where it is widely used as a leaf vegetable. It is a fast-growing, soft-stemmed vine, reaching 10 metres in length. Its thick, semi-succulent, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavour and mucilaginous texture. Malabar is not a true spinach, but its leaves, which form on a vine, resemble spinach and are used in the same way. It comes from India, and is distributed widely in the tropics, particularly in moist lowlands.

The Malabar Spinach is a common vegetable in tropical Africa and south-east Asia, where it originated. It needs regular water and fertilizing. Typical of leaf vegetables, it is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, and high in protein per calorie. The succulent mucilage is a particularly rich source of soluble fibre, thought to remove mucus and toxins from the body. The plant is also a rich source of chlorophyll.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Caryophyllales
Family : Basellaceae
Genus : Basella
Species: Basella alba

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Basella (ba-SELL-ah) - Latin form of Indian name for plants
• alba (AL-buh) - White.

Common Names:

• Malabar Spinach, Ceylon Spinach, Indian Spinach, Malabar Nightshade, Broad Bologi, Buffalo Spinach, Climbing Spinach (English)
• Basale (Kannada, Tulu)
• Vasalacheera (Malayalam)
• Upoadikaa (Sanskrit)
• Bachhali (Telugu)
• Valechi bhaji (Konkani)
• Pui Saag (Bengali)

Links:

• Plants for a future - Malabar Spinach
• World Crops - Malabar Spinach
• PROTAbase - Malabar Spinach

Image Courtesy of scott.zona.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold and raw, in salads, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes.

It is a cool season annual with milky sap and glabrous (hairless) leaves that grow in a basal rosette at first, then either in a loose or a tightly rolled head, and eventually along an upright stem that supports the flowers. The dandelion-like flower heads are pale yellow, less than 0.5 inch across, and borne in dense clusters above the leaves on an erect branching stem. Lettuce is a composite, but it has only ray flowers.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Asterales
Family : Asteraceae
Genus : Lactuca
Species : Lactuca sativa

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Asteraceae (ass-ter-AY-see-ay) - The Aster (daisy) family; formerly Compositae.
• Lactuca (lak-TOO-kuh) - Milk.
• sativa (sa-TEE-vuh) - Cultivated.

Common Names:

• Lettuce

Links:

• Floridata - Lettuce
• Self Sufficientish - Lettuce

Image Courtesy of Viveka.

Celery (Apium graveolens)

Celery (Apium graveolens) is a hardy biennial—occasionally annual—native to southern Europe and widely cultivated in various sections of this country for its fleshy leafstalk, which is used as a vegetable. Cultivars of the species have been used for centuries, whilst others have been domesticated only in the last 200-300 years.

Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall. The leaves are pinnate to bipinnate leaves with rhombic leaflets 3-6 cm long and 2-4 cm broad. The flowers are creamy-white, 2-3 mm diameter, produced in dense compound umbels. The seeds are broad ovoid to globose, 1.5-2 mm long and wide. The plants are raised from seed, sown either in a hot bed or in the open garden according to the season of the year, and after one or two thinnings out and transplantings they are, on attaining a height of 15-20 cm, planted out in deep trenches for convenience of blanching, which is affected by earthing up to exclude light from the stems.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Apiales
Family : Apiaceae
Genus : Apium
Species : Apium graveolens

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Apiaceae (ay-pee-AY-see-ay) - The Apium (celery) family (formerly Umbelliferae).
• Apium (AY-pee-um) - The ancient Latin name for celery or parsley.
• graveolens (grav-ee-OH-lens) - Heavy scented, unpleasant smell.

Common Names:

• Celery

Links:

• Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages - Celery
• PROTAbase - Celery

Image Courtesy of Stephen Buchan.

Agati (Sesbania grandiflora)

Agati (Sesbania grandiflora syn. Aeschynomene grandiflora) is a small tree in the genus Sesbania. It is believed to have originated either in India or South-east Asia and grows primarily in hot and humid areas of the world. It is a small, loosely branching tree that grows up to 8-15 m tall and 25-30 cm in diameter; stems tomentose, unarmed; roots normally heavily nodulated with large nodules; the tree can develop floating roots. Leaves alternate and compound; pinnate, 15-30 cm long with 12-20 pairs of oblong, rounded leaflets, 3-4 cm long and about 1 cm wide; leaves borne only on terminal ends of branches; leaves turn bright yellow before shedding.

Flower clusters hanging at leaf base have 2-5 large or giant flowers; pink, red or white, pealike, 5-10 cm in length, curved, about 3 cm wide before opening. Pods long and narrow, hanging down 30-50 cm by 8 mm; septate, wide, flat, with swollen margins and about 15-40 pale-coloured seeds; seed is bean like, elliptical, red brown, 6-8 in a pod, 3.5 mm, each weighting 1 g. The flowers of S. grandiflora are eaten as a vegetable in South-east Asia, particularly in Laos, Java of Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Ilocos Region of the Philippines. The young pods and leaves are also eaten.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Fabales
Family : Fabaceae
Subfamily : Faboideae
Tribe : Robinieae
Genus : Sesbania
Species : Sesbania grandiflora

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Fabaceae (fab-AY-see-ay) - The Faba (broad bean) family, (formerly Leguminosae).
• Sesbania (ses-BAN-ee-uh) - An old Arabic name.
• grandiflora (gran-dih-FLOR-uh) - With large flowers.

Common Names:

• Agati, Agati Sesbania, August Flower, Australian Corkwood Tree, Flamingo Bill, Sesban, Swamp Pea, Tiger Tongue, West Indian Pea, White Dragon Tree (English)
• Agasthya (Sanskrit)
• Hadago, Agast (Hindi)
• Agasta (Marathi)
• Agathi (Tamil)
• Agathi (Malayalam)
• Agase, Agasthi, Chogachae, Agashi (Kannada)
• Avisi (Telegu)
• Agasti (Oriya)
• Agast (Punjabi)
• Bakphul (Assamese)
• Buko, Bakful (Bengali)
• Agathio (Gujarati)
• So Đũa (Vietnamese)

Links:

• Tropical Forages - Agati
• World AgroForestry - Agati
• Purdue University : Center for New Crops & Plant Products - Agati

Image Courtesy of Thu Giang Lê Thị.