Tetragonia

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Genus of flowering plants

title: "Tetragonia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tetragonia", "aizoaceae-genera", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of flowering plants" topic_path: "general/tetragonia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragonia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of flowering plants ::

|image = Tetragonia_tetragonioides_habit.jpg |image_caption = Tetragonia tetragonoides |taxon = Tetragonia |authority = L. |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 51, see text |subdivision_ref = |synonyms =

  • Demidovia Pall. (1781)
  • Ludolfia Adans. (1763), nom. superfl.
  • Tetragonella Miq. (1845)
  • Tetragonocarpos Mill. (1754) |synonyms_ref = |}}

Tetragonia is a genus of 51 species of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, native to temperate and subtropical regions mostly of the Southern Hemisphere, in New Zealand, Australia, southern and eastern Africa, and western South America, and eastern Asia.

Description

Plants of the genus Tetragonia are herbs or small shrubs. Leaves are alternate and succulent, with flowers typically yellow and small in size. Flowers can be axillary, solitary or fasciculate, greenish or yellowish in colour and mostly bisexual. Fruit are initially succulent but become dry and woody with age. The genus name comes from "tetragonus", meaning "four-angled" and referring to the shape of the plants' fruits.

Sphaeraphides occur in at least the leaves and stalks of at least some species.

Distribution

About forty species of Tetragonia are found in southern Africa, from Angola to South Africa. They also occur in Australia, eastern Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia), western south America (Peru and Chile), and Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, southern China, Myanmar, and Vietnam).

Classification

The genus was first formally described by the botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in the work Species Plantarum. Synonyms for the genus include Tetragonocarpos Mill., Demidovia Pall., and Tetragonella Miq.

Human use and cultivation

The best known species of Tetragonia is the leafy vegetable food crop, Tetragonia tetragonoides ("New Zealand spinach"). New Zealand spinach is widely cultivated as a summer leafy vegetable.

Some of the other species are also eaten locally, such as Tetragonia decumbens ("Dune spinach") which is a local delicacy in its native southern Africa.

Species

51 species are accepted.

Formerly placed here

Gallery

File:Tetragonia decumbens03.jpg|Tetragonia decumbens File:Tetragonia echinata0.jpg|Tetragonia echinata File:Tetragonia implexicoma habit.jpg|Tetragonia implexicoma File:Tetragonia ovata, Aizoaceae (8464390152).jpg|Tetragonia ovata

References

Bibliography

References

  1. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:16364-1 ''Tetragonia'' L.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  2. {{FloraBase
  3. (2002). "2403.000 Tetragonia L.". Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants.
  4. Beadle, N.C.W., Part II, ''Students Flora of North Eastern New South Wales'', University of New England, 1972, {{ISBN. 0-85834-040-2.
  5. "''Tetragonia'' L.". Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
  6. "PlantZAfrica.com Homepage".
  7. "''Anisostigma schenckii'' (Schinz) Schinz". [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].

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tetragoniaaizoaceae-generabotanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus