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
801 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 4000 - 3000) Previous | Next
Sesbania grandiflora - Sesbania, Corkwood Tree
Edible Portion: Flowers, Leaves, Young pods, Bark, Vegetable
A shrub or small tree up to 5-10 m tall. The trunk has rough bark and the branches often droop. The trunk is thick. The branches are hairy when young. The leaves are made up of 41 to 61 leaflets. These are narrow and oblong. They are 2.5-4 cm long by 0.5-1.4 cm wide. They have a sharp point at the tip. The flowers are large and white to red. The flower petals can be 5-10 cm long. They are produced as 2-4 flowers on flowering branches 2-5 cm long. It has long narrow pods with up to 30-50 small brownish seeds. The seeds with their stalk can be 2.5-4.5 cm long in pods 20-25 cm long by 7-9 mm wide.
Phyllostachys aurea - Fishpole Bamboo, Golden Bamboo
Edible Portion: Seeds, Stem, Cereal, Shoots, Vegetable
A bamboo. It forms clumps. It has strong underground stems. It grows 3-10 m tall. The lower internodes are very short. The stems are tough and erect. They are smooth and olive-green. They are more yellow in the sun. They are 25-40 mm wide. The leaf joints are enlarged and produce attractive yellow leaves. These are 5-10 cm
Abelmoschus manihot - Aibika, Edible Hibiscus
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flower buds, Vegetable, Root, Fruit, Pods
A branched shrub up to 2 m or more high. It has rounded twigs which are green and smooth. The leaves are simple, smooth and with 3 to 5 lobes. The leaves are large and can vary in shape. Normally the leaves are very dark green, but occasionally pale green types occur. The leaf stalks are 6 to 13 cm long. The stalks can be green or have red colours on them. The flowers are borne singly and are yellow with dark purple centres. They are produced on mature bushes and the flowers are hibiscus like. The fruit pods are rather stiff or with bristly hairs. They are a dry capsule with many small seeds. Plants can last for a year or for several years. Old plants produce a hibiscus type flower
Codiaeum variegatum - Croton, Variegated Laurel
Edible Portion: Leaves, Vegetable
A shrub or small tree. It grows 3-8 m high. The leaves vary in shape. They are oval and taper to the base. They are thick and leathery. Leaves can have a range of colours. They are 10-20 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. Flowers are separately male and female. The male flowers are in groups of 2-6 while the female flowers are single. The fruit is a capsule 0.6-0.8 cm across.
Diplazium esculentum - Vegetable-Fern, Paco Fern
Edible Portion: Fronds, Leaves, Vegetable
A large fern with an upright stem. It forms tufts. It is only woody near the base. It can be 1 m high and 1 m wide. It usually grows as a large clump. It spreads by underground runners. They have feather like fronds which are 50 to 80 cm long and divided 2 or 3 times. The leaf stalks are black near the bottom. The secondary leaflets are pointed at the tip. The end sections of the leaf are many, about 8 cm long and 1 cm wide. The leaflets are notched like a saw and about 2 to 5 cm long.
Helianthus tuberosus - Jerusalem Artichoke
Edible Portion: Rhizome, Tubers, Root, Vegetable, Flowers
An upright perennial plant up to 1-2 m high and a spread of 1 m. The stem is erect and unbranched. The leaves are dull green and sword shaped. The flowers are yellow and daisy like. It produces fleshy underground stem tubers of irregular shape. The skin of these tubers is very thin and often coloured yellow or red. The flesh is white. Tubers can be 10 cm long and 6 cm wide. There are several cultivated varieties.
Medicago sativa - Alfalfa, Lucerne
Edible Portion: Seeds, Sprouts, Leaves, Vegetable
A herb. It is an erect or spreading legume. It grows to 80 cm high and spreads to 30-80 cm wide. It forms deep roots. It keeps growing from year to year. The stems are slender and hairy. The leaves are bluish green. The leaves have 3 leaflets like clover. The leaflets are oval or narrow. They are 3 cm long. The flowers are mauve. They appear in long stalked bunches. The fruit are small sickle shaped pods. The pods are deep brown. There are any named cultivated varieties.
Pennisetum purpureum - Elephant Grass, Napier Grass
Edible Portion: Flowers, Shoots, Vegetable
A grass which keeps growing from year to year. It forms large clumps. It can grow 2-4 m tall. The leaf blades are 4 cm wide. The edges become very sharp. The flowers are dense and spike like. They are yellow, brown and purple.
Pterocarpus indicus - Burmese Rosewood
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable
A medium sized evergreen tree. It grows to 27-30 m high and spreads to 4 m across. The stem is erect and stout. It branches. The trunk is 60-80 cm across. The leaves are compound with an odd number of leaflets. These are oval. The leaves are 20-45 cm long. The leaflets are 6-10 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. It can lose its leaves. The flowers are yellow and woolly. The sepals forming the outer ring of the flowers are brown. The flowers occur as many in a branched flower arrangement. The flowers are bell shaped. The fruit are round pods. These are 5 cm across. They can have 1 or 2 seeds but sometimes 4.
Anacardium occidentale - Cashew
Edible Portion: Nuts, Leaves, Fruit pulp, Flavouring, Seeds, Oil
A spreading evergreen tree up to 7-14 m tall. It has spreading branches. The canopy can spread 12 m. The roots grow deeply and spread widely. The bark is rough. The trunk is 15-20 cm across. The leaves are alternate. The leaves are pale green and large. They are 10-15 cm long by 6-8 cm wide. They have fine veins. They are narrow at the base. The leaf stalk is 1-2 cm long. The leaves are shiny. The flowers are produced on the ends of the branches. They are red in colour. About 14 % of the lowers are both male and female and the remainder are male. Many of the flowers which contain female flower parts do not form fruit. The nut is borne below the "apple" which is really a fleshy stalk. The nut is kidney shaped. It is about 3 cm long.
