Kewa acida
(Hook. f.) Christenh.
St Helena salad
KewaceaeLeaves
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) annelieee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) annelieee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) annelieee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) annelieee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Julian, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Julian, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves
On St Helena, Kewa acida has been called the "salad plant". Its leaves have a salty acid taste and are high in vitamin C, so were used by sailors to prevent scurvy.
Where to Find It
It can grow in salty soils. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, Atlantic, St Helena*,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A herb. It lies along the ground.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Kewa acida, commonly called the Salad Plant, is one of the eight species currently recognized in the genus Kewa, the sole genus in the family Kewaceae. It is a bushy grey-leaved annual or short-lived perennial plant, with white flowers, endemic to St Helena. It is regarded as Critically Endangered. The succulent leaves are high in Vitamin C and were used by sailors in the past as a scurvy preventative.
Names & Synonyms
Hypertelis acida (Hook. f.) K. MullerPharnaceum acidum Hook. f.
References (1)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 4th May 2011] (As Hypertelis acida)
