Description
Native to Texas!
We have found that Jewels-of-opar will grow in a pot or in dirt, prefers partial to full sun, and will survive through intense droughts, but prefers medium to small amounts of watering.
In our observation the Jewels-of-opar is incredibly perseverant, and also tends to self seed quite prevantly.
If you let it go to seed, there is a high chance it will produce many new plants, so do not plant it in your vegetable garden where it will become a weed, but rather in a landscaped hedge area where its resilience and pretty pink flowers will be appreciated.
Jewels-of-opar has comparable nutritional value to spinach. Many sources say that it can be eaten raw, and we have found it to be quite delicious raw ourselves, albeit slightly mucilaginous. In our experience, the young leaves can be used to make quite a delicious souffle.
But do keep in mind that just like Spinach, this plant may contain high amounts of oxalic acid which can suck out calcium. So if you are eating Spinach and/or these leaves raw, you might want to limit your intake to only one salad a day.
According to our research, though, one way around this is to blanch the leaves before eating which can supposedly lower the amount of oxalic acid present and/or denature it.
We recommend you doing your own research before trying any new plant since there is always the possibility that we missed something and/or misunderstood what we have read.
Note: Despite our extensive research, we do not know if we have the species T. paniculatum or the species T. fruticosum/triangulare due to the incredible similarity between the two species, however according to our research both species are still considered edible.
Also known as: Fameflower, Pink baby’s-breath Ceylon spinach, and Gbure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talinum_paniculatum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talinum_fruticosum
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