Some 3 billion people in the world live outside the cash economy in the world’s poorest nations. Food security and regular supply are their daily concerns. Chronic malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disease for them. Young children are amongst the most affected. One child every 5-10 seconds dies from undernutrition. Vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness for someone every minute. Most people in tropical and subtropical countries are iron deficient.
Our goal is to provide information that enables people to choose the right plant for their environment, to give them stable food production and a greater choice of plants to enrich their diets and improve their nutritional wellbeing.
The plant fact sheets listed in this collection are only a small portion of those available from FPI. Please check your plant inquiries in the ECHO Search and reference the FPI plant database for further information.
Most of the plants selected to list here are further described in country-specific publications by Food Plant Solutions (FPS in the Search).
8000 Starchy Staples
7000 Legumes
6000 Leafy Greens
5000 Fruits
4000 Vegetables
3000 Nuts, Seeds, Herbs, and other foods
948 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 8000 - 8000) Previous | Next
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii - Tufted Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows to 25 m tall. It forms dense thickets. The stems are 7-12 cm across. The stems are curved downwards and the nodes are marked with root scars. The internodes are 20-40 cm long. The stem sheath is triangular. The leaves are narrow and sword shaped. They have small teeth along the edge. The leaves are rough underneath. The leaf sheaths have stiff hairs. The flower is reddish brown. The fruit is a grain which is oval and beaked. It flowers both annually and gregariously after 30 years.
Dendrocalamus latiflorus - Sweet Bamboo Shoot, Taiwan Giant Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A tufted bamboo plant. It grows 20-50 m tall. The stems are long and bend. They are 10-30 cm across. The segments are 45 -60 cm apart. The leaves are 6-15 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. The flowers are small. They are 12-15 mm across. They are feathery and red or purple in colour.
Dendrocalamus sikkimensis - Philippines Sweet Bamboo Shoot
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 10-18 m tall. The culms are 10-13 cm across. The internodes are orange and 46056 cm long. There are several branches. The leaves are 15-30 cm long by 4-7 cm wide.
Dendrocalamus sinicus - Giant Dragon Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A bamboo. It grows 20-30 m tall and the culms are 20-30 cm across. The internodes are 17-22 cm long. The leaf blade is 20-40 cm long by 4-7 cm wide.
Dendrocalamus strictus - Male Bamboo, Calcutta stricta
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Shoots, Cereal, Manna, Rhizaome, Root
Dendrocalamus tibeticus - Tibetan Male Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 15-25 m high. The culms are 12-18 cm across. The nodes are 40-45 cm long and green. The leaf sheaths are 6-11 cm long and the leaf blade is 10-32 cm long by 2-5 cm wide.
Dianthus chinensis - Chinese Pink
Edible Portion: Flowers
A short lived plant often grown as an annual. It grows 30-45 cm high and spreads 15-23 cm wide. It is a bushy plant. The stems have easy to see nodes. The leaves are slender. They are light green, pointed and 8 cm long. The flowers are red, pink or white. They are about 2.5 cm across.
Drepanostachyum falcatum - Himalayan Bamboo, Himalayan Weeping Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows to about 4 m high. The stems are not straight. They are about 2 cm across. They are branched. The stem is hollow. The nodes are swollen. The internodes are thin walled. Small branches come out from the nodes in clusters. The sheaths are papery and straw coloured. The base of the leaves wraps around the stem. The flower stalk is on a separate leafless stem. It is greenish.
Fargesia melanostachys - Black Spike Arrow Bamboo
Edible Portion: Leaves, Vegetable
A bamboo. It grows 6 m tall. The rhizomes or underground stems are 1-1.5 cm across. The are densely covered with scales. The culms have 25 internodes and are yellowish-green. There are 3-11 branches at each node. There are 2 or 3 leaves on the end branch. The leaf blades are 4-8 cm long by 1 cm wide.
