Malabar or Ceylon Spinach (Basella alba)

Malabar or Ceylon spinach is often grown as a substitute for real spinach and is an excellent source of vitamins. Its leaves are good for use as a mild laxative. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the East India Company controlled much of the Indian subcontinent. Keen to exploit and export valuable natural commodities, the Company set out to record the flora of India and commissioned Indian artists to create detailed botanical illustrations. Many of the plants were known through their use in Ayurvedic medicine. One of the world’s oldest medicinal systems, it has been practised in India for 3,000 years.