A very ornamental plant, strawberry blite has at times been cultivated for its edible leaves.

An easily grown plant, succeeding in most soils but disliking shade. It prefers a moderately fertile soil.

Edible uses

Fruit is eaten raw or cooked. An insipid but sweet flavour, they can be added to salads. The fruit is about 12mm in diameter.

A red food colouring can be obtained from the fruit.

Leaves are eaten raw or cooked. Used like spinach, they are a good source of vitamins C and A. The young leaves are best. Poor quality. The raw leaves have been used in salad mixtures, but should only be eaten in small quantities.

Seed - cooked. It can be ground into a meal and mixed with cereal flours in making bread etc. The seed is small and fiddly, it should be soaked in water overnight and thoroughly rinsed before it is used in order to remove any saponins.