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
826 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 8000 - 8000) Previous | Next
Oldeania alpina - Mountain Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A bamboo. A very large hollow-stemmed grass. It usually grows 6-8 m tall but can grow 12-25 m tall. The stems are smooth and woody. They are yellow brown. They grow from fattened underground stems (rhizomes). A ring of thin branches grow from the joints at the upper ends. Leaves grow off these small branches. Stems can reach 7-10 cm across. The leaves are pale green and up to 20 cm long by 1 cm wide. Flowers are rarely seen. They are 10-20 cm long. After flowering the plant dies down.
Oxytenanthera abyssinica - Lowland Bamboo, Savannah Bamboo, Wine Bamboo
Edible Portion: Seeds, Young Shoots, Cereal, Sap, Manna, Vegetable
A bamboo or grass. It grows 10-15 m high. It grows in dense clumps. The stem is solid. It is 8-10 cm wide at the base. It arches slightly at the tips. The sheaths are covered with short dark brown bristly hairs. These can be rubbed off. (They irritate the hands). The leaves are bluish green and narrowly sword shaped. They are 5-25 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. They taper to a spine tipped point. The flowers occur in 1-4 flowered spikes. The upper flowers are of both sexes. The lower flowers are sterile. The grains narrowly taper to both ends. After flowering the clump dies back to re-shoot from the base.
Phyllostachys angusta - Stone Bamboo, Chinese Edible Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It has creeping rhizomes or underground stems. The culms are 7.5 m long and 2.5 cm across. The internodes are 15-19 cm long. The shoots are 20 cm long.
Phyllostachys bambusoides - Giant Timber Bamboo, Japanese Timber
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows up to 30 m tall. The culms can be 20 cm across. They are glossy dark green. The leaves are 9-20 cm long by 2-4.5 cm wide. The shoots are 45-48 cm long and 2-3 cm wide.
Phyllostachys bissetii - Bisset's Bamboo, David Bisset Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 5-6 m tall. The stems are 2 cm across. The internodes are 25 cm long. There are 2 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blades are 7-11 cm long by 2 cm wide.
Phyllostachys congesta - Water Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It has creeping rhizomes or underground stems. The culms are 8.5 m long by 5.5 cm wide. The internodes are 15 -27 cm long. The shoots are 25-30 cm long and 4.5 cm wide.
Phyllostachys dulcis - Sweet Shoot Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A vigourous bamboo. A running bamboo. It grows 8-12 m high and spreads 9-12 m wide. The culms are green and arch. They can be 8 cm thick. The internodes are compact and the nodes can be thicker on the leaning face.
Phyllostachys elegans - Flowered Bamboo, Chinese Elegant Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 4-8 m tall. The stems are 3 cm across. The internodes are 12-15 cm long. There are 2 or 3 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blades are 5-12 cm long by 1-2 cm wide.
Phyllostachys flexuosa - Zig-zag Bamboo, Supple Bamboo, Chinese Crooked Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 5-6 m tall. The stems are 2-4 cm across. The internodes are 30 cm long. There are 2 or 3 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blade is 8-12 cm long by 1-2 cm wide.
