This trailing plant with its succulent leaves and orange-red berries was a significant source of food for Tasmanian Aborigines. The berries, which darken to near-black when ripe and were valued as a red dye, were a sweet tasting snack or addition to a main meal.

The leaves were highly valued as food by both Aborigines and by early Europeans who found them a valuable counter to scurvy. As its common name indicates, it has a similar flavour and texture to spinach. 

Specimens collected by botanists, including Joseph Banks, found their way into European
gardens. In France, bower spinach became so widely it was thought to be native.