Spider Plant

Spider plant is an erect herbaceous annual herb with hairy, often purple stems and many branches growing to a height of about one metre. The plant has edible leaves; each leaf has up to 7 leaflets spreading like fingers, which are usually 2-10 cm long and 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are rather showy, long and bearing many small white or pink flowers. The elongate fruit resembles a pod, but is referred to as a capsule, containing many small, dark seeds. Spider plant originated in Africa and Tropical Asia but now has a worldwide distribution. The plant is either cultivated or harvested from the wild. It is a fast-growing plant that is ready for harvest in as few as three weeks.

The leaves are eaten as a cooked green vegetable, have a mildly bitter taste and contain 5% protein, 6% carbohydrates and are high in vitamins A and C, calcium, phosphorus and iron. Spider plant is used as a vegetable, and as such adds important nutrients to the diet in rural areas of East and Southern Africa. The leaves are usually cooked when fresh but may also be dried and stored for up to two years although this practice greatly reduces the crop's nutrition value.