Oro Pro Nobis – Perennial Leafy Green

Oro Pro Nobis (Persia aculeata) is an important perennial vegetable from Brazil. This plant is sometimes called “Barbados Gooseberry” for it’s fruit, which is edible but sour and not delicious in our view. The greens, on the other hand, are very good. The leaves are very mild and can be eaten raw, but are slightly mucilaginous. Cooked, they are fantastic. These greens are tender, mild tasting and cook quickly. We are not big fans of slimy greens, but do not find the cooked greens to be undesirably mucilaginous. A quick stir fry in a pan makes this into a nice vegetable. The leaves are reputed to be one of the highest protein leaf crops in the world. It is also exceptionally high in calcium, magnesium and Vitamin C. This nutritious vegetable is very easy to grow and should be much more widely planted in Florida.

Oro Pro Nobis is actually a primitive cactus, though one may never guess by looking at it. Unlike its desert adapted family members, this species remained in wetter environments and never adapted to have typical cactus features. It’s a clamoring vine, which does more falling onto other plants than climbing, sort of like bougainvillea. At the base of the leaves there are short thorns on the main stems. The thorns aren’t such a big deal but can snag clothing as one passes by if allowed to sprawl into pathways. Plants may be planed tightly as a hedge, or perhaps planted densely along a fence or on other low trellises where they can be trained up into a nice form for management and harvesting. This plant is tropical but readily tolerates temperatures in the 30’s. Barring frost, leaves remain of high quality to eat during winter unlike many other tropical perennial greens. The plant thrives in Florida’s heat and humidity, meaning there is a harvest year round. This tropical plant will not like freezes but odds seem good it will resprout from the roots, although at the time we can’t confirm this.

At this time we only have cuttings to offer but will have live plants in the future. Oro Pro Nobis roots extremely easily from cuttings, so customers should have good success.

Listing is for 10 unrooted cuttings.

Pereskia aculeata