Beneficial Mutation In Our Sissoo Spinach Plants

Beneficial Mutation

Sissoo spinach, also known as Brazilian spinach, is a tropical edible groundcover of the genus Alternanthera and used as a leaf vegetable.  It’s has been a staple veggie crop at our house ever since we starting running an aquaponics system.  It’s heat tolerant, tasty, and easy to clone from cuttings.    We eat it in mixed salads with fresh moringa, katuk, basil and cabbage at almost every dinner meal.    

Now……..I can’t tell you how many times we’ve cloned it, but over the last 9 years,  it has to be approaching 1000. Last year we witnessed, what appears to be a beneficial mutation. On one single plant, the leaves flattened out, grew larger, and developed a pointed end.  It turned out to be even better for salads and it’s closer in appearance to traditional cool weather spinach.  We’ve continued cloning it and the new breed has served us well.     

I have not seen a flat leaf variety like this in any market and I venture to say this is one of a kind. Now what are we going to name it?