Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets

Ximenia caffra - Sour Plum

Edible portions: Fruit

A shrub or small tree It grows to 8 m tall. It has many spines. Young stems can be very hairy. The bark is grey or brown. It is smooth at first but then becomes rough and cracked along its length. The young twigs are covered with fine red hairs. The leaves are simple and alternate. They vary in shape. They are 2.5-6 cm long and 2 cm wide. They are densely hairy at first. They become shiny green and smooth with age. The leaves narrow to the base and are on short leaf stalks. The lower leaf surface is more pale than the upper surface. The leaves tend to fold inwards. The flowers develop as long green buds in the axils of the leaves. These open to 4 petalled green, hairy flowers. The flowers are either on their own or in a bunch from the same point. They are small and white. They have a sweet scent and are 1.3 cm long. The fruit are oval and 2.5-3 cm long. They are greenish when young and become bright red when ripe. They are edible. The contain one woody seed. (The large leaves, fewer spines, more solitary flowers and red fruit help distinguish this plant from the variety americana.)

A tropical plant. It grows on rocky woodlands from 5 m to 2,000 m above sea level. It suits dry areas. It can tolerate drought. It can grow in arid places.

Amaranthus dubius - Spleen amaranth

Edible parts - Leaves, Seeds, Vegetable

An annual herb plant. It is erect and grows up to 1.2 m tall. The stems are angular and the plant is often branched from the base upwards. Plants can be green or tinged purple. The leaves are 3-8 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. The leaf stalk is 1-5 cm long. Leaves can taper to a point at the tip and taper quickly towards the base. The flower clusters are in spikes on side branches and these can be branched. The flower stalks at the tip can be lax. The flower clusters can be 10-20 cm long and either stick upwards or bend over. Most of the flowers are female. Seed are 1-1.2 mm across and rather flat. Several types occur.

A tropical plant. It suits the tropical humid lowlands. It can grow in arid places. In Papua New Guinea it grows between sea level and 1,800 m altitude. It needs a night temperature above 15°C and preferably a day temperature above 25°C. It needs fertile, well-drained soil.

Amaranthus graecizans - Spreading pigwee, Mat Amaranth

Edible parts - Seeds, Leaves, Vegetable

An annual plant growing up to 50 cm high. The plant is sprawling over the ground. It has a taproot. The branches do not have hairs. The flowering shoots are leafy. The flowers are in small clusters. They are greenish. 

It is a Mediterranean and tropical plant. Tasmania Herbarium. In Ethiopia it grows from 900-2,380 m altitude. It can grow in arid places

Annona senegalensis - Wild custard apple

Edible parts - Fruit, Flower buds, Leaves

A shrubby tree which looses its leaves during the year. It grows to 2-6 m high. The bark is grey and smooth. The young stems are hairy and orange. The older bark becomes thick and folded. It peels off to expose paler patches. The leaves are oval and blue-green. They are 18 cm long. They are curved like a spoon. Under the leaf is hairy. The leaves have a peculiar smell when crushed. The flowers are yellow green. They occur as one to three together hanging down below the twigs. The fruit is rounded and 2-7 cm across. It is smooth but divided like lots of small parts fused together. It is green when unripe and turns orange-yellow when ripe. It has a smell like a pineapple. It has many seeds. They are pale brown. The sweet pulp around the seeds is edible.

A tropical plant. It grows in the lowlands. It is found throughout Africa. It grows in tropical and warm regions. It grows in semi arid to sub humid regions. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in miombo woodland. The young trees need light shade. They need well drained soil. It is a tree of the savannah regions. It grows in the lowlands. It is best with a temperature range of 17-30°C and a rainfall of 700-2,500 mm per year. It can grow in arid places. It is best with a pH between 5.5-7. In Malawi it grows below 1,200 m altitude. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,750 m above sea level. In Brisbane Botanical Gardens.

Asystasia schimperi - Atipa

Edible parts - Plant, Leaves

An erect annual herb. It grows 50 cm tall. The stems are 4 sided and purplish-green. They are hairy. The stems come from a taproot. The leaves are simple and opposite. They are oval or oblong and taper to both ends. They are light green and hairy. The flowers are small and pink. They are 15 mm long. The fruit is a stalked capsule. It is flattened and on the sides and has 4 seeds.

A tropical plant.

Bauhinia petersiana - White bauhinia, Zambezi coffee

Edible parts - Seeds - coffee, Seeds, Nectar, Root

An untidy spreading bush. It grows 3-4 m high. It can be 9 m high. The bark is dark and powdery and flakes off in strips. The leaves have lobes for almost half their length. The lobes are oval. They are 3.5-6 cm long and 3-8 cm wide. The base of the leaf is deeply lobed. The flowers are long and crinkled with white petals. Flowers are 8 cm long by 1-1.5 cm wide. The fruit is a large brown pod. These are 12-18 cm long by 3-6 cm wide. They split open rapidly forming a spiral.

A tropical plant. It grows in woodland and wooded grassland at medium and low altitudes. It is often on termite mounds. It grows from 120-1800 m altitude. It is more common in the lowlands. It is damaged by drought or frost. It needs well-drained soil. In Zimbabwe it grows in areas with a rainfall between 600-750 mm per year. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Borassus aethiopum - Borassus Palm

Edible parts - Fruit, Cabbage, Sap, Seeds, Palm heart, Vegetable, Young roots, Seedling

A solitary fan palm. It grows up to 25 m tall. It has separate male and female trees. The trunk is bottle shaped and smooth. Older trees have a swelling on the trunk above the middle which helps distinguish it from Palmyra palm. The bark is grey. Young trees have leaf bases which cling to the tree. The leaf scars are prominent. The terminal crown is a cluster of fan-shaped leaves. The leaves are up to 4 m long including the leaf stalk. The leaf is divided about the middle into folded segments. The leaf stalks are black with hooked spines along the edges. The flower comes from between the leaf stalks. The male flower spike
is 2 m long with branches which are 25 cm long by 4 cm across. The female flower spike is 1.5-3 m long and unbranched. There are 20-50 fruit. The fruit are round and about 15 cm across. They are green to orange. The base of the fruit are enclosed in 6-7 cup shaped bracts. The fruit contain 3 hard coated seeds. The individual fruit is about 1 kg weight and the seeds 100 g.

A tropical plant. It grows in the lowlands and the highlands. It grows in the semi arid and sub humid tropics. It grows in the Sahel. Plants are often spread by elephants after the eat the fruit. It requires good sunlight. It cannot grow in waterlogged soils. It grows from sea level to 1850 m with temperatures of 18°C to 30°C. It is most common is areas with 500-1,200 mm rainfall but also grows in slightly higher rainfall areas. It can grow in arid places and savannah. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Capsicum frutescens - Bird's eye chillies

Edible parts - Leaves, Fruit, Herb, Spice, Vegetable

It is a shrubby perennial plant about 1 m tall. The leaves are smaller than round capsicums or bell peppers. Two or more flowers occur together in the axils of leaves. They have small pointed fruit about 1-2 cm long and they are red when ripe. They have a very hot taste when eaten or touched on the lips.

A tropical plant. A native of tropical America. The plants grow from sea level up to about 1800 m altitude in the equatorial tropics. They can't stand water-logging or frost. They are tolerant to high temperatures and a wide range of rainfall. Very high rainfall leads to poor fruit set and rotting of fruit. Soil needs to be well drained and preferably fertile with adequate organic material. Light loamy soils rich in lime are best. It does not do well on atolls. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Carissa edulis - Caradas plum, simple-spined carissa

Edible parts - Fruit, Roots - spice, Flowers, Leaves

A shrub or small tree. It grows up to 1.5-5 m tall. It has green straggly branches. There are many spines 10-40 mm long. The spines are simple. The leaves are opposite one another. They have short stalks. The leaves are leathery and widest below the middle. The flowers are white and pink. The are in the shape of a tube and 18 mm long. They are crowded in the axils of leaves. The fruit occur as berries in pairs. They are round and about 1 cm across. They are waxy and dark red when ripe.  They have red sweet pulp.  The fruit are edible.

It is a tropical plant. It occurs in semi arid lowlands and in the highlands. They occur in regions with temperatures in the range 14-22°C. They occur from sea level to 2400 m but are more common at 800-1200 m altitude. It is damaged by frost but resistant to drought. They will grow on most soils. In Tanzania it grows in areas with a rainfall between 1,000-2,100 mm. They do not do well in wet areas. It can grow in arid places. It often grows on termite mounds. It suits hardiness zones 10-11. In Yunnan.

Carissa spinarum - Simple-spined num-num

Edible parts - Fruit, Spice

An evergreen shrub. It grows 5 m tall. It is thorny. It can be climbing. The leaves are narrowly oval and leathery and have soft hairs. The flowers are white and have a scent. They are in groups at the ends of branches. The fruit are red berries. They are about 1 cm across.

A tropical plant. It grows in dry regions. It can grow in arid places. It grows in south India. In the Himalayas it grows up to 6,000 m above sea level. It occurs in the Western Ghats in India. Rajasthan. In Sichuan and Yunnan.