Basella alba

• Botanical Name : Basella alba L.
• Synonyms : Basella rubra L.
• Common Name : Pothi-ni-vel, Poi, Indian Spinach
• Plant Family : Basellaceae

• Earlier this plant was placed in family Chenopodiaceae by Bentham and Hooker but as per modern views it should be placed in family Basellaceae which is separated from family Chenopodiaceae.

• Plant Form : Climbers
• Occurrence (Sectors) : 5, 12, 17
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park

About Basella alba Plant :

• Habit : Annual twining herbs.
• Stem : Much-branched, slender, succulent, glabrous, bright to dark-green, at times purple, with plenty of mucilage.
• Leaves : Petioled, 4-14 x 3-11 cm pale to dark-green or bright purple, broadly-ovate, subfleshy, subacute or acute at apex, tapering at base, entire and slightly undulate along the margins, glabrous above, minutely hairy beneath, sometimes impressed between nerves; petioles 1-3 cm long, glabrous.
• Inflorescence : Axillary spikes
• Flowers :
  • Whitish or pinkish or reddish, 4-8 mm in diameter, upto 4 cm long or condensed only in the upper parts of 3-10 cm long peduncles; bracts small, apiculate.
  • Perianth divide half way down; pentafid, fleshy, lobes elliptic, oblong, obtuse, incurved.
  • Stamens 5, inserted on the mouth of the perianth-tube, anthers versatile.
  • Ovary globose, ovules 1, style 3, connate at base, stigma linear-clavate.
• Fruit : Utricle, 3-4 mm in diameter, subglobose, glabrous, dark-purple to reddish, included into the fleshy perianth.
• Flowering and FruitingTime : June to December.
• Significance :
  • Leaves edible.
  • The pulped or bruised leaves, on account of the presence of mucilage are used as poultice.
  • The juice of leaves is prescribed in cases of constipation, particularly in children and pregnant women.
  • The tender shoots and leaves are used as vegetables or for preparing pakodas.
  • The leaves are diuretic, demulcent and useful inn gonorrhea. By its dense foliage, it also provides a good shade.