Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets

Fragaria vesca

Edible: Fruit, Leaves - tea

A small plant which keeps growing from year to year. It grows to 20 cm high and spreads to 30 cm wide. The stems are long runners which form roots at the nodes. The leaves have 3 leaflets and are bright green. The leaflets are oval and with coarse teeth around the edge. They are 6 cm long and arranged in rings on long leaf stalks. The flowers are small white and open. They have 5 petals. The fruit are oval and fleshy. They are white and turn red (or white) as they ripen. They are sweet. A strawberry with small leaves and fruit and the seeds are on the outside of the fruit.

It is a temperate plant. It grows in the highlands in the tropics. It grows from 1600 m up to 3550 m in the tropics. They do poorly in hot humid climates. It becomes naturalised in high mountain regions in Papua New Guinea. It needs well drained soils and a protected sunny position. They are drought and frost tender. They enjoy acid soil. It suits hardiness zones 5-9. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Common Names: Ameibuji, Bhui aselu, Bhuikaphal, Buti, Czerwone, Dag cilegi, Dau-tay, Divlja jagoda, Dreza, Erdei, Fodi eper, Fresa silvestre, Fragola, Fragula, Frutilla, Getnamori, Gorska yagoda, Jagoda sumska, Lulestrydhe, Maasikas, Maduixera, Maiore, Mandzoi, Mark-jordbaer, Marts'qvi, Maizi, Metsmaasikas, Meza zemenes, Navadni jagodnjak, Pahari rashberi, Paziemkos, Sa-mrep, Strawberi hutan, Wilde aardbei, Xia jiu, Yabani cilek, Zemlianika

Synonyms: 

Fragaria insularis Rydb.;
Fragaria monophylla Duchesne;
Fragaria vesca var. monophylla (Duchesne) Ser.;
Potentilla vesca (L.) Scop.;
See Fragaria nubicola;

Garcinia cowa

Edible: Fruit, Leaves, Spice, Seeds

A tree. It grows 8-12 m tall. The trunk can be 30-50 cm across. The trunk is straight but usually with many knots. The crown is oval and the leaves are dark green. The small branches are often 4 sided. The leaves are narrowly sword shaped and 7-12 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and 1 cm across. Male and female flowers are separate. The fruit is rounded with 4-8 segments. It is 3-4 cm across. There are 6-10 seeds with a layer around them.

A tropical plant. It grows in humid mixed forests on hills or in valleys from 100 m altitude but mostly between 400-900 and occasionally to 1300 m in southern China. In XTBG Yunnan.

Common Names: 

Aghatsa, Bak moong, Ban suntala, Cha muang, Chamuang, Chengkek, Cowa-Mangosteen, Cowphal, Dengadote, Gava, Gehahao, Guo da, Guyei, Haibung, Huang xin shu, Kagyi, Kao, Kao-gola, Kaphal, Kau thekera, Kau, Kauba, Kauthekera, Kaw, Ke diu biu, Kemenjing, Kouthekera, Kujitherekera, Maksommong, Pala-kye, Phak moong, Phelamesong, Pohon manggis kemenjing, Pradang, Rengran, Sommong, Tai chua, Taika, Taung-thale, Tromeng, Tromoung, Ye-kabyin, Yi ka bu duo si, Yun shu

Synonyms: 

Cambogia crassifolia Blanco;
Garcinia cornea Roxb. ex Sm.;
Garcinia roxburghii Wight;
Garcinia wallichii Choisy;
Oxycarpus gangetica Buchanan-Hamilton;
Stalagmitis cowa G. Don;
Stalagmitis kydiana G. Don;

Gigantochloa balui

Edible: Shoots

A bamboo. It forms dense tufts. The stems bend slightly outwards. They are 12 m long and 3-8 cm across. The internodes are 40 cm long.

It is a tropical plant. It is best in rich alluvial soils.

Common Names: Balui, Bambu taris, Buluh abe, Phai ba lui

Glebionis coronaria

Edible: Leaves, Stems, Flowers, Seeds, Vegetable

An annual herb eaten at the seedling stage when it is not more than 20 cm high. It has many branches and grows 2 m tall. Leaves are succulent with a light silvery tinge and broadly serrated edges. There are a range of variations in leaf size and shape. They can be toothed or deeply indented. The flowers are golden. They are produced in large numbers. There are several cultivated varieties.

There have been some attempts to preserve the name Chrysanthemum coronarium

A Mediterranean climate plant. It can grow in dry soils. It can grow in arid places.

Common Names: Babrisak, Bagaur, Basum, Busbas, Cay cuc, Chamanti, Chandramallika, Chopsuey greens, Crown daisy, Ciuri di cacamaiu, Dallama, Garland chrysanthemum, Gul-chini, Guldaudi, Gulechini, Gulesvati, Japanese greens, Khee kwai, Kikuna, Kra djaja, Mojino amarillo, Ong hao, Phak tang o, Phakkhikhwai, Rjel djaja, Saruni walanda, Seoti, Shamantippu, Shevanti, Shevantika, Shungiku, Sookgat, Ssukka, Sungiku, Tango, Tang-Oh, Tong Hao, Tong-Mo, Tongho, Tung ho, Tursiphal, Zaenil

Synonyms: 

Buphthalmum oleraceum Lour.;
Chamaemelum coronarium (L.) E. H. L. Krause;
Chrysanthemum breviradiatum Hort. ex DC.;
Chrysanthemum coronarium L.;
Chrysanthemum coronarium var. concolor Batt.;
Chrysanthemum coronarium subsp. coronarium;
Chrysanthemum coronarium var. coronarium;
Chrysanthemum coronarium var. discolor d'Urv.;
Chrysanthemum coronarium subsp. discolor (d’Urv.) Rech.f.;
Chrysanthemum coronarium var. spatiosum Bailey;
Chrysanthemum coronarium var. subdiscolor Maire;
Chrysanthemum coronatum Dum.Cours. [Illegitimate];
Chrysanthemum merinoanum Pau;
Chrysanthemum roxburghii Desf. ex Cass.;
Chrysanthemum senecioides Dunal ex DC.;
Chrysanthemum spatiosum (L.H.Bailey) L. H. Bailey;
Chrysanthemum speciosum Brouss. ex Pers.;
Dendranthema coronarium (L.) M. R. Almeida;
Glebionis coronaria (L.) Tzvelev;
Glebionis coronaria var. coronaria;
Glebionis coronaria var. discolor (d'Urv.) Turland;
Glebionis roxburghii (Desf. ex Cass.) Tzvelev [Illegitimate];
Matricaria coronaria (L.) Desr.;
Pinardia coronaria (L.) Less.;
Pinardia roxburghii (Desf. ex Cass.) Less.;
Pyrethrum indicum Roxb.;
Pyrethrum roxburghii Desf.;
Xanthophthalmum coronarium (L.) P. D. Sell;
Xanthophthalmum coronarium (L.) Trehane ex Cullen;

Chrysanthemum segatum;
Glebionis coronaria (L.) Tzvelev;
Tanacetum coronarium; ?
 

Manihot esculenta - Cassava

Edible Portion: Root, Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable

A plant which can re-grow year after year from the thickened roots. It has several stems. The stems are woody and have some branches. Plants grow up to 2 or 3 metres high. Stalks have distinct scars where leaves have fallen. The leaves tend to be near the ends of branches. The leaves are divided like the fingers on a hand. The leaves have long leaf stalks. The leaves have 3-7 long lobes which can be 20 cm long. These are widest about 1/3 of the distance from the tip and taper towards the base. The colour varies. It produces several long tubers. These can be 50 cm long by 10 cm across. The flowers are on short stalks around a central stalk. They are produced near the ends of branches. The female flowers are near the base of the flower stalk and the male flowers higher up.

Colocasia esculenta - Taro

Edible Portion: Corm, Leaves, Stalks, Vegetable, Root, Flowers

This plant has large flat leaves on the end of upright leaf stalks. It grows up to 1 m high. The leaf stalk or petiole joins the leaf towards the centre of the leaf. The leaves are 20-50 cm long. Near the ground a thickened rounded corm is produced. Around this plant their is normally a ring of small plants called suckers. Many different varieties occur. If left to maturity, a lily type flower is produced in the centre of the plant. It has a spathe 15-30 cm long which is rolled inwards. The flowers are yellow and fused along the stalk. There are many named cultivated varieties.

Taro comes in two basic forms. The Dasheen type Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta and Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum or the Eddoe type. The basic difference is the adaptation of the Eddoe type to storage and survival in seasonally dry places, while the dasheen type needs to be maintained in a more or less continuously growing vegetative stage. These are now recognised as separate species names.

Guizotia abyssinica - Niger Seed

Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Oil, Vegetable

An erect branched herb. It grows 30-180 cm tall. The stems are soft and hairy. The leaves are usually carried opposite one another. The leaves do not have stalks and they clasp the stem. The leaves have teeth along the edge and the surface is a little rough. The flower head is made up of many small flowers each capable of producing a seed. The fruit (called seeds) are black angled structures. They are up to 12 mm long. The seed inside is 3.5-5 mm long. There are about 250-300 seeds per gram.

Dactyloctenium aegyptium - Comb Fringe Grass

Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal, Rhizome, Root

An annual grass. The stems are slender. They can lie along the ground. These can form roots at the nodes. They can have runners and form mats. It is 15-60 cm high. The edges of the leaf sheaths have small hairs. The leaf blades are flat and 5-20 cm long by 0.2-0.6 cm wide. The surfaces are lumpy/hairy. It tapers to the tip. The flowers spread like fingers on a hand. There are 2-9 flower stalks. They are long and narrow. They often spread out horizontally. The spikes are on one side of the stalk. The tip is bare. The seed grains are about 1 mm across.

Hordeum vulgare - Barley

Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal, Seeds - Tea

An erect annual grass. It grows 80-120 cm tall. The nodes are solid and the internodes are hollow. The leaves are narrow.  There are 5-10 leaves. They are produced alternately on opposite sides of the stem at the nodes. The leaves are narrowly sword shaped and 5-40 cm long by 0.5-1.5 cm wide. The flowers are greenish. Flowers have long awns. The fruit is a grain. It is oval and narrow. There are a range of named cultivated varieties.

Ipomoea batatas - Sweet Potato

Edible Portion: Tuber, Root, Leaves, Vegetable

This is a root crop which produces long creeping vines. The leaves are carried singly along the vine. Leaves can vary considerably from divided like fingers on a hand to being entire and rounded or heart shaped. At the end of the vine, trumpet shaped flowers grow. They are purple. Under the ground fattened tubers are produced. There are a large number of varieties which vary in leaf shape and colour, tuber shape, colour, texture and in several other ways.