????? ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) I had been eating this veggie for as long as I know. Yes it is edible, only the leaves and it is traditionally eaten in soup. It had a strong distinct pleasant taste. We Chinese call it "9 stick/pieces veggie" and I have no idea what it is called in English or its scientific name. Thorny. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) There are thorns along the stem and one can only remove the leaves one by one. purple flowers. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) The flowers are small and purple in colour. Any idea?
Does this look like your plant? Further down the page it mentions that in the Philippines the leaves are eaten in soups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera
How about; Basella, alba or Basella, rubra; common names of Ceylon Spinach, Climbing Spinach, Indian Spinach, Creeping Spinach, and in the case of the rubra, Malabar Spinach, Red Vine Spinach? ................... Hank
Henry, those names that you mentioned do not have thorns,I have grown ceylon spinach and the like but it is definitely not that plant.I would grow the plant for the pretty flowers!
Sorry Toni, it is not the plant. This plant grow in straight long stems with hardly any branches. Sorry Henry, Chocolate is right and I had seen and eaten ceylon spinach before. Hmmm..... still wondering what it is!
YAHOO!!! I just discovered what kind of plant this is. I just imaged googled thorny veggie and I got a saw an image of a stem of this plant. It is the "MATRIMONY VINE - LYCIUM BABARUM L." which produces wolfberries which I love eating too! Details of the plant - http://montana.plant-life.org/species/lyci_barba.htm How to eat it - http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2010/05/fr ... p-kou.html Wow!! never knew that wolfberries came from this plant.
Yea, another mystery solved. The plant is in our database http://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/503599 but has no information or photo. Would you be so kind as to fill in the blanks for us
Sorry Toni, I already deleted the photos from my computer and so I wasn't able to upload it. Anyway I took some new photos today and just had them uploaded. You know it is more meaningful to know more details about the plants one is planting.
KK, that is a very interesting plant. As soon as I saw the berries I thought of those goji berries i see for sale in the native plant section of some of the fruit catalogs and as soon as I scrolled all the way down there was a link to goji berries. It must be the same thing? So how do you use the berries? raw or fresh or how? the whole plant sounds very healthy. As soon as I saw the solenaceae I thought it would be poisonous, too. Maybe I'll have to get some, just to try them out myself.
Thanks Cherylad, now the plant had become more important after realising that I enjoy its berries too! :-D Carolyn,it is indeed an interesting plant and yes goji berries and wolf berries are the same thing. We use the berries for cooking, usually with other herbs like angelica root, solomon's seal and ginseng to make soup especially chicken. We buy the berries dried and is mainly from China. Before discovering this plant that is all I know what the berries are for but now I know there are much more method to eating it and it can even be made into a juice. :-D The power of discovery is fantastic! Wow!! Before I only thought that it was only grown in China and now I even have it in my front yard! 8) I am sure it is not poisionous becuase I had consumed lots and lots of its leaves and berries. You should try out this plant, it is easy to grow and interesting.
Wow. Goji again. Lycium again. I have started a major debate on a Romanian gardening forum regarding this plant. The whole world is crazy about goji berries and their benefits. People spend a lot of money buying. I have had this (or really similar plant) in my garden and can't get rid of it. Looks different from the one in your pictures. The leaves are much thinner. Lots of thorns, makes purple solanacee-like blooms and orange-red berries. Like I said, me and dad have been trying to up-root this, but we haven't succeeded yet. Must have a really deep root. We never let ours go to fruit cause we dig up, trim, cut, whatever we can. I have seen it in lots of un-tended places, growing in huge hedges beyond control. I have always thought it was a poisonous plant ever since i was a child.
Calinromania, I think yours could be a different species from the same family. From what I understand it does have a large network of roots. What I would do if I want to get rid of a pplant is to dig up the roots where hte stem diappear to the ground. No need to dig up all the roots but just the area below the stem and cut what ever that do n ot wish to come up with it. Good luck!
