Tetragon cabbage, also known as New Zealand spinach, is a leafy plant with triangular leaves, yellow flowers, and small, hard capsules that contain seeds. It's a trailing plant that can form a thick carpet on the ground or climb through other plants.Tetragon is usually grown for its leaves, which can be added in salads or cooked. Thanks to its ability to withstand difficult climates, this plant grows readily in the wild in China, Reunion Island, and New Zealand. It is also fairly easy to grow in Quebec, but it will behave as an annual since it cannot tolerate frost.

Held up by a round stem, tetragon has a really unique look with its thick leaves and quadrangular fruits. Good source of vitamin B1, B2 and C; the spinach is both delicious and nutritious!

Physical characteristics

Leaves: Thick, bright green, triangular leaves that are 3–15 cm long 

Flowers: Yellow or pale yellow-green flowers with four or five petals that grow at the leaf joints 

Fruit: Small, hard capsules with 4–10 horned seeds 

Stems: Long, trailing stems that are usually green or red 

Seed pods: Tough, four-cornered green seed pods that grow along the stems at the leaf joints 

Other names 

Botany Bay spinach

Cook's cabbage

Kōkihi (in Māori)

Sea spinach

Warrigal greens

Warrigal cabbage

Uses

The leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked 

It's a heat and drought-tolerant species that can be grown in home gardens 

Origin 

Native to Argentina, Australia, Chile, Japan, and New Zealand