Gynura procumbens is a sprawling, vine-like tropical plant in the daisy family, grown mainly for its edible leaves. It thrives in warm, humid conditions and is easy to propagate from cuttings.
Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Climber
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy, watering when the top layer begins to dry.
Soil
Well-draining, fertile potting mix or garden soil enriched with compost.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
W. & WC. Trop. Africa, E. Himalaya to China (Guangdong) and New Guinea
Climate
wet tropical
About
Gynura procumbens is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes referred to by the common names sabuñgai, sambung nyawa, longevity spinach, or longevity greens. It is an edible vine that is native to Bangladesh, Benin, Borneo, Cambodia, the Central African Republic, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Java, Liberia, Malaysia, New Guinea, Nigeria, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Its leaves are ovate-elliptic or lanceolate, 3.5 to 8 centimetres (1+1⁄3 to 3+1⁄6 in) long, and 0.8 to 3.5 centimetres (1⁄3 to 1+1⁄3 in) wide. Flowering heads are panicled, narrow, yellow, and 1 to 1.5 centimetres (1⁄3 to 2⁄3 in) long. The plant grows wild but is also cultivated as a vegetable or medicinal plant. Its young leaves are used for cooking, such as with meat and prawns in a soup.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gynura procumbens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.