Malabar spinach is a perennial tropical vine, popular as a leaf vegetable, only distantly related to spinach. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families Achatocarpaceae Aizoaceae (Fig-marigold family) Amaranthaceae (amaranth family) Ancistrocladaceae Asteropeiaceae Barbeuiaceae Basellaceae (basella family) Cactaceae (cactus family) Caryophyllaceae (carnation family) Dioncophyllaceae Droseraceae (sundew family) Drosophyllaceae Frankeniaceae Molluginaceae (carpetweed family) Nepenthaceae Nyctaginaceae (four-oclock family) Physenaceae Phytolaccaceae (pokeweed family) Plumbaginaceae (plumbago family) Polygonaceae (buckwheat family) Portulacaceae (purslane family) Rhabdodendraceae... Genera Anredera Basella Boussingaltia Ullucus Basellaceae is a family of typically succulent, mucilaginous, herbaceous, perennial, vining plants. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné  listen, and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... The term vine was originally a term for the plant on which grapes grew, from the word for wine (Greek oinos), for which grapes were grown. ... Leaf vegetables, also called greens or leafy greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. ... Binomial name Spinacia oleracea L. Spinach (Spinacia oleracea, Amaranthaceae) is a leaf vegetable. ...

Names

Malabar spinach has been introduced to the English-speaking world under many different names, including Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, East-Indian spinach, Surinam spinach, Malabar nightshade, and vine spinach.

Origin and distribution

It is a popular vegetable in many tropical regions.

Description

It is a fast-growing vine, reaching 10 meters in length. Its thick, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavor and mucilaginous texture. The term vine was originally a term for the plant on which grapes grew, from the word for wine (Greek oinos), for which grapes were grown. ... metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units. ...

Nutrition

Malabar spinach is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and soluble dietary fiber. It is low in calories by volume, high in protein per calorie. Retinol, the dietary form of vitamin A, is a fat-soluble, antioxidant vitamin important in vision and bone growth. ... Vitamin C is a water-soluble nutrient essential for life and is used by the human body for many purposes. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4, d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, 4. ... General Name, Symbol, Number calcium, Ca, 20 Series alkaline earth metal Group, Period, Block 2 (IIA), 4, s Density, Hardness 1550 kg/m3, 1. ... Dietary fibers are long-chain carbohydrates (polysaccharides) that are indigestible by the human digestive tract. ...

Preparation

Among many other possibilities, Malabar spinach may be used to thicken soups or stir-fried with garlic and chile peppers. Soup is a savoury liquid food that is made by boiling ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted. ... Stir frying is a common Chinese cooking technique used because of its fast cooking speed. ... Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. ... The chile pepper (also chili or chilli; from Spanish chile) is the fruit of the plant Capsicum from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). ...

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne (http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Basella.html)
• Photo and multilingual synonyms (http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/trade/asiaveg/thes-09.htm)
• Another photo (http://solanaseeds.netfirms.com/malabar886.jpg)
• University of Florida Agricultural Extension (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV138)
• Evaluation of tropical leaf vegetables in the Virgin Islands (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-388.html#basellaceae)