A tropical plant (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) grown in Central America and Mexico for its nutritious edible leaves, also called tree spinach.
From Nahuatl (Aztec language) chaya, the original name for this plant used by indigenous Mesoamerican peoples. The word was preserved and adopted into Spanish and English through colonial contact.
Chaya is an indigenous supergreen that most people have never heard of—it's packed with nutrients and grows in harsh conditions, but colonial systems prioritized importing European crops instead of developing local ones.
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