Okinawa Spinach (Crassocephalum crepidioides)

Family: Asteraceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Okinawa Spinach, Crassocephalum crepidioides, is a tropical, upright, herb with thick and soft stem and alternate leaves. It makes an excellent spinach substitute. Its flowers are yellow and reddish and fruits are dark brown with long silky hairs at the end. It is commonly found in Papua New Guinea and in many other tropical countries. The leaves are used for indigestion, headaches, fresh wounds, nose bleeding, and sleeping sickness.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

nutty flavour. — A commercially cultivated vegetable.; Leaves - raw or cooked.; A distinctive, pine-like flavour.; The leaves are fleshy, somewhat mucilaginous with a nutty flavour.

Habitat & North American Range

A weed in abandoned farm land, waste places, plantations and backyard gardens. (Zone 10)