Malabar Spinach is a tropical climbing vine native to India’s Malabar Coast and Indonesia. It is belonging to Basellaceae family. Latin name is Basella alba. Alba means white, refer to its white flowers. Genus name comes from the Latinized version of the vernacular name. It is also called; Ceylon Spinach, Indian Spinach and Climbing Spinach. Basella alba’s stems are yellowish at colour and the leaves are green.

Basella alba var. rubra (rubra;red) is a variety of Basella. It is also an ornamental plant with bordo-red stems and veins of leaves. It is also belonging to India. Red-Stemmed Malabar Spinach is an edible vegetable as true spinach (Spinacia oleracea), cultivated at tropics and temperate areas. It is also used as an ornamental foliage vine.

Basella rubra is a fast growing tropical vine. If supported with a pole, can be grown to 100-150 cm high in a season. The taste is almost same with true spinach (Spinacia oleracea), but texture of leaves are quite different and vine prefers hot summer days for growing. Small purple-white flowers may appear at the end of the summer, following very dark red-black fruits.

Basella alba and Basella rubra are perennial plants at tropics, but is also cultivated as an annual crop in temperate regions. They grow best in fertile, acidic soils but tolerate even poor, sandy soils. Propagation can be done easily either from seed or from cuttings. They are heat loving plant that can be hurt by temperatures lower than 5˚C, and killed at 0’C. Their succulent flesh helps them to easily survive severe and long drought with their water storage. They are also resistant to disease and parasites. There is no difference between green and red variety as growing and taste. Red-Stemmed Malabar Spinach looks so pretty with red stems and red older leaves and it is worth to be planted for pure ornamental purpose.

 Basella leaves can be eaten raw or cooked like true spinach. Malabar Spinach has the advantage of producing into the hottest months of summer, when true spinach has stopped growing. Basella rubra leaves and young stems are very juicy, crunch and mucilage’s. It can be eaten raw in sandwiches and salads but it’s usually steamed, stir-fried or cooked. It can be used in soups and stews as a thickener. Red juice from its fruits is sometimes used as colouring for foods. Black fruits of Basella alba and Basella rubra’s are crushed and used for its red pigment as a rouge for cheeks and lips.

Use in Landscape: As an ornamental, enjoy the glossy green leaves and red stems in ornamental plantings on posts, fences, hanging baskets or large containers. It can be grown on a trellis or any structure where its burgundy stems will quickly be covered. It looks gorgeus with a lush screen of red-veined, heart-shaped leaves and pink flowers followed by red juicy fruit.    Basellas young stems are not too flexible and can become quite hard, so it can be shaped into a small bush.

Basella’s succulent leaves and stem tips are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of iron and calcium. It has been used as a folk medicine for almost any disease at Asia and Africa. It acts as emollient, sedative, demulcent, cooling, diuretic, tonic, mild laxative, antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant, aphrodisiac, antiulcer, febrifuge, and lactogenic.