Another new ornamental edible in the greenhouse: Talinum paniculatum.
Commonly referred to as Fameflower or Jewels of Opar (apparently a title taken from a Tarzan novel), this American native is found from the southeast US through the Caribbean and into northern South America. When just in vegetative stage it’s moderately attractive, with thick red stems and bright green to yellowish succulent leaves, but it’s when it starts flowering that it puts on a show. Short stalks slowly grow taller and more complex, throwing out peduncles in all directions that begin popping open with tiny but hot pink flowers that quickly develop into brilliant jewel-like orange-red berries. Once the whole scape is finished it looks like a floating cloud of sparkling gems above the soft leaf carpet below them, and they are quite popular as a soft texture addition to cut flower arrangements.
As said before it’s not just pretty, but also edible; the leaves are kind of like spinach with just a little bit of other flavor in them (I tried one, can’t quite explain it) and so quite good for a rich salad.

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Fameflower or Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculatum), a native of the southern US and South America. The flowers are tiny, less than 3/8"and pollinated mainly by Syrphids (hoverflies or flowerflies) . I grow this plant not only for the flowers but also to eat the leaves.

#fameflower #jewelsofopar #talinum