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Leafy vegetables

Leafy vegetables or leafy greens are plants that are eaten for their leaves. Around 1000 different plants are known to have edible leaves. Common leafy greens in the Western world are kale and collard greens, spinach, swiss chard, different lettuces, different types of cabbages, celery, and a large number of leafy herbs. Traditionally also eaten were wild plants like dandelion, shepard's purse, stinging nettle, and water cress. Lesser known leafy greens include mustard leaves, rape , radish and beet leaves, sorrel, malaba spinach and new zealand spinach. In Mexico foraged leafy greens are referred to as quelite.

In India mustard greens, fenugreek leaf (methi), leaves of okra, bitter gourd, bottle gourd etc. are very widely used in daily cuisine.

The Asian kitchen knows a huge number of different leafy vegetables and salad greens, some of which are flower shoots, like edible crysanthemum or Ma lan tou (Kalimeris indica).  A good description of many Chinese uses of leafy greens can be found here: https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-ingredients-glossary/chinese-vegetables-asian-leafy-greens/

Africa also has a long list of traditionally used leafy greens, which are served with almost every meal. Many of these wild-collected greens are still common and even commercially available.

Leaves Of Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Cassava (Manihot esculenta) leaves are used as a spinach called kisamvu in the Swahili kitchen, as saka saka or pondu soup in Central Africa or made into a stew called saka saka in Western Africa. 

In African countries, bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) leaves as well as pumpkin (cucurbita pepo) and sweet potato (ipomea batata) leaves are often used as spinach.

Examples of traditional African leafy vegetables:

Photographs of six indigenous African leafy vegetables as sold in Accra markets: a A. cruentus L., b C. olitorius L., c H. sabdariffa L., d S. macrocarpon L., e T. triangulare (Jacq.) Willd., and f X. sagittifolium L..

a) purple amaranth (Amaranthus cruenthus), b) jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius), c) roselle (Hibiscus subdariffa)
Jute mallow is known as delele in Zambia and Botswana, murere in Kenya, derere in Zimbabwe, and molokhia in North Africa.
d) African eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon), e) waterleaf or Ceylon spinach (Talinum triangulare) and f) cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium)
Cocoyam (taro) leaves are used to prepare  palaver sauce in Ghana, while in Francophone Africa, cocoyam leaf stew is referred to as sauce feuilles.

Amaranth leaves of many different spiecies, like: A. blitum, A. caudatus, A. cruentus, A. dubius, A. gangeticus, A. polygonoides, A. roxburghianus, A. spinosus, A. tricolor, or A. viridis,  are known as mchicha in Tanzania, mowa in Zimbabwe, umfino in South Africa, bonongwe in Zambia and Malawi, efo tete in Nigeria, and alefu in Ghana.

Other edible green leaf plants closely related to Amaranth are:
Fig. 1Achyranthes aspera: in Luo: Auch-Auch; Turu: Inyalo; Hehe: Lugeni; Luhya: Lusayi; Swahili: Pulule; Kamba: Uthekethe (Kokwaro 2009).
and the very similar Celosia argentea var. argentea or Lagos spinach is one of the main boiled greens in West Africa, where it is known as soko yòkòtò (Yoruba) or farar áláyyafó (Hausa).
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Manathakkali - Black nightshade – Sunantha Organic FarmsSpecies known as African nightshade include Solanum scabrum, S. villosum, S. nigrum, and S. americanum.[1] Local East Afrikan names of African nightshade include managu (Kikuyu), mnavu (Swahili), rinagu (Kisii), tsisutsa (Luhya), osuga (Luo), isoiyot (Kipsigis), kitulu (Kamba), ormomoi (Maa), ndunda (Taita), nsugga (Luganda), sochot (Keiyo), and esisogho (Lukhonzo). In Cameroon the Nso people call it Nyuuseji, and the Kom people call it Mbasi

SesamalaM2_sWinged-Seed Sesame (Sesamum alatum) also Guzozo in Shona (Zimbabwe) and hansi lamti or hansi foy in Zarma (Western Niger)


Spider flower (Cleome gynandra) | Download Scientific Diagram African Spider flower (Cleome gynandra) leaves are known as nyevhe or runi in Zimbabwe, mgagani in Tanzania, and musambe in Angola.

A long list of over 400 leafy greens can be found here: https://theworldwidevegetables.weebly.com/leaf-vegetables.html
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(1) Drescher, A. W.; Pasquini, M. W.; Shackleton, C. M. (2009). "African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture". Earthscan. ISBN 9781136574986. Retrieved November 14, 2013.

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