Plant · P-318

Chaya

Cnidoscolus aconitifolius

Chaya is a large, fast-growing perennial grown for leaves so productive that a stand can yield roughly 12 tonnes per hectare a year, cut hard and often like a chop-and-drop mulch engine as much as a vegetable. The leaves are genuinely nutritious - about a quarter protein plus a full spread of vitamins and minerals - but they're toxic raw: cyanide-forming compounds mean every leaf needs a real 15 minutes of cooking before eating, and harvesting calls for gloves against the stinging hairs. Cooked or wilted, the same leaves double as feed for pigs, chickens, goats, ducks and even cattle.