Tetragonia Tetragonioides

Taxonomy:       

Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophytes Class: Angiosperms Class: Eudicots Order: Caryophyllales Family: Aizoaceae Genus: Tetragonia Species: T.tetragonioides

             

New Zealand Spinach Tetragonia tetragonioides in Algeria

Tetragonia tetragonioides, most widely known as New Zealand spinach, warrigal greens, Botany Bay spinach and other names, is a leafy succulent herb in the Aizoaceae family that’s prized worldwide for its edible leaves and tolerance to salty, sandy soils. Although native to eastern Asia, Australasia, and Pacific regions, this species has been introduced and is now naturalising in Algeria, first discovered as a cultivated escape near gardens and more recently reported as establishing in the wild in the Skikda region in northeast Algeria.

Synonym:

Demidovia tetragonioides

Tetragonia expansa

How to identify it?

Tetragonia tetragonioides it is an annual herb, belonging to the family Aizoaceae , relatively dark green but completely covered with small, white, shiny, strongly branched papillae, with creeping stems up to 1 m long, succulent leaves,spirally arranged blade oval, flowers axillary,yellow.

Growth habit: A sprawling, low-growing annual or short-lived perennial herb that can form sprawling mats or climb slightly through nearby vegetation.

Leaves: Succulent, rhomboid to triangular in shape

Bright green, thick and fleshy

Covered with tiny papillae (small bumps) giving texture to the surface

Stems: Long and fleshy

Can exceed 50–90 cm (20–35 in) under good conditions

Flowers: Small, greenish to yellow

Occur in leaf axils, often solitary or occasionally paired

Fruit & Seeds: A small, hard capsule with 4–10 horned seeds per fruit

Season: Flowers and fruits are most visible in mild to warm seasons; phenology in Algeria likely similar to Mediterranean patterns (spring–early summer).

 

Type Of Plant	Life Cycle	Height	Flowering Time	Altitude
Herbaceous	Annual & biennial	30 to 60 cm	Jul to Sep	0  m

 

Mediterranean	Edible	Color	Abundance	Toxicity
Introduced into	Yes	Yellow	Common	No

 

Other Common Name:

Arabic	Berber/Targui	English	French	Other Name
		Tetragon,Warrigal greens	Epinard d‘été	New Zealand spinach

 

Algerian Distribution and Where to Find It

According to recent field research, Tetragonia tetragonioides has been confirmed naturalising in Algeria, marking it as the first confirmed wild record in continental North Africa.

A research article published in 2024 reports that botanical surveys between 2021 and 2024 located established populations in the Skikda region in northeast Algeria, particularly at sites like Larbi Ben M’Hidi along sandy beaches and coastal habitat where the plant grows among other halophytic species.

Prior to that, it was only referenced as an adventive (i.e., occasionally appearing outside gardens) near Algiers in early 20th-century reports but without exact coordinates.

Typical Algerian habitats:

Coastal dunes and beaches

Sandy wastelands and disturbed garden margins

Salt-influenced soils near the Mediterranean

Given its halophyte preference and naturalisation in Skikda, northern Mediterranean coastal Algeria is where you’re most likely to encounter this species in the wild.

Botanical Characteristics

Tetragonia tetragonioides is a salt-tolerant (halophytic) succulent herb that thrives in sandy, well-drained soils and withstands conditions that many other leafy greens cannot. It can be annual or perennial, with a decumbent (trailing) habit that enables it to form groundcover. Its fleshy leaves store water and support photosynthesis even in salty spray zones.

Ecological and Ethnobotanical Traits

Ecological Traits:

Habitat adaptability: Occurs on sandy shorelines, dunes, bluffs and disturbed ground sometimes near gardens where it escapes cultivation.

 

Halophyte: Well adapted to saline soils and coastal environments.

 

Naturalisation: Research confirms Tetragonia tetragonioides has naturalising populations in Algeria’s Skikda region and may spread further if unmanaged.

 

Possible competition: In non-native settings it can establish robust populations that compete with indigenous halophytes and native coastal plants.

Ethnobotanical Uses:

Edible leafy vegetable: Leaves of this species are cooked like spinach and eaten in many cultures; it has a slightly bitter, leafy flavour and has been used historically to fight scurvy (notably during Captain Cook’s voyages).

 

Traditional names & food use: Known as New Zealand spinach, warrigal greens, Botany Bay spinach, and Cook’s cabbage in different regions.

 

Nutrition: It is harvested as a home garden crop and can be a good source of minerals and vitamins; blanching reduces oxalate levels before cooking.

 

Potential horticultural vegetable: Though not widely commercial, it remains a nutrient-rich leafy plant for home use.