PlantFiles: Chaya, Tree Spinach
Cnidoscolus chayamansa

I have a variety of Chaya that I eat raw, -the people I got it from have been eating it raw in their area for hundreds of years, it produces no flowers, but roots well from cuttings, --I eat it in salads or just by its self most mornings, --I tried to eat enough to get the first sign of the Cyanide toxin,[nausia] but after a half pound I gave up, --any more than that,- the discomfort would have been from over-eating, --It has a very good flavor , it is one of my favorite vegetables.

I love this bush! My mom gave me two branches, just twigs less than a foot long, and told me to stick them in the ground. I did. They grew. One is still sort of twiggy, but the other is several feet tall, a couple of feet wide, and has tons of flowers on stalks on the top. My butterflies nectar on it all the time. I put pictures of the bush and the nectaring butterflies here: [HYPERLINK@butterflies.heuristron.net] I'm in South Florida.

I just noticed that we're talking about two different plants. Which one is really Cnidoscolus chayamansa? Both come up in a Google Image on that name. I'll keep researching it.

I have had huge success using chaya in complex agroforestry systems in panama. it thrives in full sun and part shade and on slopes and flat land, in both the pacific and carribbean side of the country, rainforestry and dry tropical forestry. excellent food with many possiblilities for food preparation, the young tender tips can also be boiled and eaten. cuttings take easier if left for a while to scarify.

A really nitritious plant. If you want to propagate from cuttings dont put the cuttings in water. Just let them in a place away from the sun and cold winds for 3 day so the cut dries. Water in this cut can make the cutting to rot. I had propagated this plant for years and thats the best way. It will take roots in about 2 weeks if the weather is warm. Keep it moist, NOT WET. In cold climate or in frost area just start cuttings indoors each fall and replant in the spring once the danger of frost has pased. Its grows really fast. Don't take too small cuttings its better to use ones from 8" to 12". You can take at least one third of the plants leaves for cooking or medicinal purposes without causing too much stress in the plant. Try to keep at least three plants in your home so if one dies you will have the others. Remember to always cook the leaves for at least 10 minutes so the toxic compounds in the plant will go away. Thats 100% secure everytime because the toxic compounds disapears in about 5 minutes so to be sure use the 10 minutes cooking time. Add the leaves to already boiling water otherwise the cooking time will be a little more.

This plant has some pros and cons. My Mexican neighbor loves it to wrap tamales in, and the big, bright green leaves have an intense sweet fragrance. I dug up a clump of this plant for my neighbor, I believe it has survived in a pot. The flower spikes look like long white rat tails, nothing special. It loves the sun... or loved the sun. I found it will overtake and smother anything. Including my roses. I dug it up. It's actually coming back. Very tenacious. It will take me a long time to eradicate this thing. It will happily take over any south-facing wall with well-drained soil. It would look lovely with some bougainvillea trained over it.

Flower spikes are visible in the photo I uploaded.

I'm told that flowers are rare and seeds almost unknown.. Experiments with chaya tea on diabetic rabbits show that it seems to first cause a slight spike in blood sugar, then provide some control of hyperglycemia; it's also way higher in protein, potassium, readily-absorbed iron, and Vitamin C than most greens (e.g. spinach). Maybe I can get cuttings at a Mexican market -- haven't tried yet -- but seed may be impossible to get.

Very attractive plant. Marginal outdoors in 8b winters, but one plant did come back from roots this spring (I'm planning to repot it for moving indoors during freezes this season.) Several people have asked me for cuttings but I have not been able to oblige because there is no side branching. This is the third year (first year was as a houseplant) and have not had any blooms. Would like to find a soiurce for seeds. Have not yet tried it as a vegetable. Yuska

This is a fantastic ornamental vegetable. It is shrubby, normally gorinw to about 2m in height, but if well tended can become a handsome small tree of about 6m tall. The leaves are edible and highly nutritious (more vitamin C per weight than oranges, more vitamin A than almost anything else, and more protein and vitamins than spinach), but do have low levels of cyanide-like compounds which can be completely removed by cooking for ~10 min or thoroughly blending (they make great healthy shakes). The leaves are great for wrapping tamales or served like spinach. The plant is incredibly hardy, grown by stem cuttings and I have successfully kept it alive (but not flourishing) in a bottle of water in a low-light office AND in full sun with no irrigation in the desserts of California.

Some varieties do have stinging hairs, but there are plenty of stingless varieties as well.

The toxicity can be completely removed by cooking for 10 minutes or more. Do not cook in aluminum cookware.