Purple Problem. Amaranthus tricolor, Edible Amaranth or Chinese Spinach, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Olymp had a bit of a problem with this beautiful Purple Flower - beautiful, at least if you examine it carefully. His Master was taken in by the intricate flowers but he wisely used his magnifying glass. Olymp, though, can only do as much as the photo shows in order to at least give you some indication of the intricacies of this extraordinary Purple. Here on the left is the flower spike, above right a flower, and lower right some of the tiny black seeds, a mere mm and a half or so in size.
Meanwhile Olymp's Master was having problems of his own. Here in the Hortus this plant is labeled as a 'tricolor'. And therein lies a problem: this Amaranth's foliage in no way resembles the bright colors of 'tricolor'. They may well be edible but Chinese Spinach would seem to have more variegarted orange and yellow and green leaves. In fact, those colors led Matthias l'Obel (Lobelius) (1538-1616) to call our garden vegetable: Papegaeyen-cruydt, that is to say, Parrot Herb. So I'm not sure whether the sign in the garden is correct. Next time I see a gardener, I'll ask.
PS. Ah! of course... The foliage is edible. But so are the flowery spikes and also those tiny black seeds. I was amused to read that you have to soak them first in water so they lose their soapy taste. Given they're really wee, it's hard to imagine making a meal of them!
Purple Problem. Amaranthus tricolor, Edible Amaranth or Chinese Spinach, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Olymp had a bit of a problem with this beautiful Purple Flower - beautiful, at least if you examine it carefully. His Master was taken in by the intricate flowers but he wisely used his magnifying glass. Olymp, though, can only do as much as the photo shows in order to at least give you some indication of the intricacies of this extraordinary Purple. Here on the left is the flower spike, above right a flower, and lower right some of the tiny black seeds, a mere mm and a half or so in size.
Meanwhile Olymp's Master was having problems of his own. Here in the Hortus this plant is labeled as a 'tricolor'. And therein lies a problem: this Amaranth's foliage in no way resembles the bright colors of 'tricolor'. They may well be edible but Chinese Spinach would seem to have more variegarted orange and yellow and green leaves. In fact, those colors led Matthias l'Obel (Lobelius) (1538-1616) to call our garden vegetable: Papegaeyen-cruydt, that is to say, Parrot Herb. So I'm not sure whether the sign in the garden is correct. Next time I see a gardener, I'll ask.
PS. Ah! of course... The foliage is edible. But so are the flowery spikes and also those tiny black seeds. I was amused to read that you have to soak them first in water so they lose their soapy taste. Given they're really wee, it's hard to imagine making a meal of them!