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Tetragonia fruticosa
Also called Sea Coral, Sprawling Duneweed, Sprawling Seacoral
Lettucebush is a sprawling coastal subshrub from Namibia that stabilises dune sand and is browsed by livestock and game. It is a desert and dryland species that needs full sun, sharp drainage and very little water.
Tetragonia fruticosa, or kinkelbossie, is a coastal perennial shrub or scrambler endemic to Namibia. It is well-suited to dune sand stabilisation and often browsed by livestock and game. It is found from sea-level to about 1100 metres.
The fruits are unusual for Aizoaceae being four-winged, single-seeded and indehiscent. The wings are green and succulent at first, drying and becoming papery and brown, aiding in dispersal of the seed by wind. The flowers are a rich source of pollen and nectar for honeybees.
Tetragonia coronata · Tetragonia cristata · Coast Lettuce · Tetragonia diptera · Glitter Leaf · Desert Spinach · New Zealand Climbing Spinach · Tetragonia moorei · Tender Seacoral · Tetragonia spicata · New Zealand Spinach · New Zealand spinach
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tetragonia fruticosa 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.
