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
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Cissus adenocaulis
Edible parts - Leaves
A vine with tuberous roots. Probably now Cyphostemma adenocarpum
A tropical plant. It grows in tropical Africa
Cucurbita maxima - Pumpkin, Winter Squash
Edible parts - Fruit, Leaves, Seeds, Flowers, Vegetable
A pumpkin family plant. It is a creeping vine with tendrils. It is an annual plant. The stems are soft and round in cross section. The leaves are large and hang loose. They are dark green and kidney shaped. The edges of the leaves are entire. There are large nodes at the base of the leaf. The tendrils are fairly stout and are divided half way along their length into many branches. Male flowers are carried on long upright stalks. The 5 petals are united into a long yellow tube. The female flowers are larger than the male and are fewer in number and carried on shorter stalks. The fruit varies in size, colour and patterns on the skin.
They can be round, oval or flattened, with yellow, orange or green skin. The surface can be smooth and rough and warty. The flesh is yellow and edible. The seeds are in the centre. The seeds are white or brown. They are flattened but plump and have a slanting scar at the top. The seeds are edible. (C. moschata does not have hairy stems but has fruit with a stalk thickened near where it joins the fruit.) There are a large number of cultivated varieties.
A subtropical plant. They are grown throughout the tropical countries from sea level to 2400 m altitude. They need a fertile soil. C. moschata is better suited to coastal areas. They are frost sensitive but better suited to cooler areas than C. moschata. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 8-11.
Cucurma longa - Tumeric
Edible parts - Rhizome, Root, Leaves as condiment, Herb, Spice, Flowers
A herb in the ginger family which continues growing from year to year. For harvesting it is grown as an annual crop. It grows up to 1 m high and spreads to 50 cm across. The stem is erect. Under the ground it has bright orange fattened stem or rhizome. These have a sweet smell. The main fattened part is about 5-8 cm long by 1-5 cm across. It has thinner branches off it. These are thickened with secondary tubers. The leaves are in a cluster and have leaf stalks that clasp the stem. The leaves are sword shaped and have long leaf stalks. Leaves are long, flat and bright green. The flowers are dull yellow. They occur in clusters of 3
-5. Normally the cultivated turmeric is a sterile triploid plant which does not bear fruit.
It is a tropical plant. It is widespread in coastal areas up to 1000 m altitude in the Philippines. It needs a hot moist climate and a well drained soil. The soil needs to be loose for good rhizomes. Plants can grow in the shade but the yield is lower. Plants are drought and frost tender. It needs a temperature above 13°C. It suits hardiness zones 10-11. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
Diospyros mespiliformis - Jackalberry
Edible parts - Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Vegetable
An evergreen tree. It grows up to 15-20 m tall. It can grow to 45 m tall in forests. It has a dense wide spreading round crown. The trunk sometimes has buttresses. Young branches have soft hairs. The bark is dark grey. The bark is smooth in young trees and becomes rough in older trees. The small twigs are pink. The leaves are simple. They are 4-17 cm long and 1.5-5.5 cm wide. The midrib is sunken on top and prominent underneath. The flowers occur as male and female flowers on separate trees. The male flowers occur in clusters and the female flowers occur singly. The fruit are round and 3 cm across. They have sweet
edible pulp. The fruit are green and with hairs when young and become yellow or purple when ripe. They contain 4-6 seeds.
A tropical plant. It can grow in the tropical lowlands. It occurs in tropical Africa south of the Sahara. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in semi arid woodland. In occurs where the mean temperatures are between 16°C and 27°C. In Tanzania it grows between 350-1250 m altitude. It is more common where rainfall is 500-1270 mm per year. It does best on heavy soils. It often grows near streams and freshwater. It can grow on termite mounds. It can grow in arid places. It grows in Miombo woodland in Africa.
Grewia mollis
Edible parts - Leaves, Flowers, Bark, Fruit, Nectar, Vegetable, Root
A shrub or tree. It is straggling in form and almost a climber. It grows up to 7 m tall. The bark is fibrous. The leaves are 8-17 cm long by 2.5-8.5 cm wide. The leaves are grey green on top. They are lighter underneath, and hairy. The edges of the leaves have teeth. The flowers are in the axils of leaves. The sepals are yellow and the petals pinkish. The fruit are round and hairy. They have 4 deep lobes. They are brown to black. They are 5-8 mm across.
A tropical plant. In Kenya it grows up to 1600 m altitude. It grows on dry soils. It tends to be in drier regions. It grows in savannah woodland. It grows in the Sahel. It can re-grow after fire. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 200-800 mm. It can grow in arid places.
Hibiscus cannabinus - Vegetable kenaf, Indian hemp
Edible parts - Leaves, Seeds, Pods, Fruit, Flowers, Seeds - oil, Bark, Gum, Vegetable
A herb. It can grow from seed each year or keep growing from year to year. It grows up to 3.5 m high. It has a few sharp spines. The leaf stalk is 6-20 cm long. The leaf blade has 2 forms. The leaves lower on the stem are heart shaped and those higher on the stem have 4-7 lobes arranged like fingers on a hand. These lobes are sword shaped and 2-12 cm long by 0.6-2 cm wide. They have teeth around the edge. They taper at the tip. The flowers are yellow, white or ivory and red at the base. They occur singly in the axils of leaves. They are large and up to 10 cm across. They have very short stalks. The fruit is a capsule
about 1.5 cm across. The seeds are kidney shaped.
A tropical plant. It is cultivated in S China. It can grow in well-drained sandy soils and in dry but seasonally waterlogged places. It grows between 15-2,130 m above sea level. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 500-635 mm. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.
Hyptis spicigera - Hard Simsim, Black sesame
Edible parts - Seeds, Leaves, Flowers
A herb. It grows each year from seed. It is erect and the stems are 1-1.5 m tall. The angles are rough. The leaf stalk is 0.3-2.2 cm long. It is rough. The leaf blade is sword shaped and 2.5-7.5 cm long by 1-2.5 cm wide. It is bluish green and hairy. The flower spikes are in axils of leaves or at the tip of branches. They are 1.6-6.5
A tropical plant. It grows in the tropics in Africa. It can be in savannah woodland and in forests along rivers.
Moringa stenopetala - African horseradish tree
Edible parts - Leaves, Fruit, Vegetable
A tree. It grows 10-15 m high. The bark is smooth. The branches are soft. The leaves are compound and divided 2-3 times. The flowers have a sweet scent. They are white and occur in loose flower arrangements. The fruit are long pods. The fruit are yellow when ripe. They split open to release seeds that have 3 wings.
A tropical plant. In Kenya it grows in sandy soils with a high water table. It grows between 390-1,250 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. It grows in areas with average temperatures between 24-30°C.
Morus indica - Mulberry
Edible parts - Fruit, Buds
A shrub or small tree. The small branches are hairy when young. The leaves are oval and can have lobes. There are teeth along the edge. The leaves are 4-12 cm long by 3-9 cm wide. Male and female flowers are often on separate branches. The fruit are black when ripe.
It is a tropical plant.
Sesamum calycinum subsp. Angustifolium - Wild simsim
Edible parts - Leaves, Seeds, Seeds - oil, Vegetable
A herb. It may or may not be branched. It grows 75-200 cm tall. The leaves are narrow and alternate or opposite. They are 2 -12 cm long by 0.1-4 cm wide. The lower leaves can have irregular teeth. The flowers are dull red. They are a slightly bell shaped. They are 2.5 cm long. The fruit is a capsule 2.5 cm long. It has a beak.
A tropical plant. It grows in waste places and is a weed of cultivated areas. It grows from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level.
