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 3000 - 3000) Previous | Next
Pimenta racemosa - Bay Tree, Bay Rum Tree
Edible Portion: Leaves - oil, Berries, Spice
An evergreen tree. It grows 13 m tall. The bark is brownish. The leaves are leathery and oblong. They are 8-10 cm long and 1 -6 cm wide. There are 10-20 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers are small and white. They occur as 15-100 in a group. The tree has an aroma. The fruit are round and 5-15 mm wide. There are 1-4 seeds.
Pinus elliotti - Slash Pine
Edible Portion: Seeds, Nuts, Needles, Bark
A pine tree.
It is a temperate plant.
Pyrostegia venusta - Flaming Trumpet, Flame Vine, Golden Shower
Edible Portion: Flowers
A woody vine. It is fast growing and keeps its leaves throughout the year. The leaves are compound with 2 or 3 oval leaflets. The leaves are in opposite pairs along the stem. The central leaflet can be a coiled tendril. The flowers are reddish-orange. They are tube shaped and 9 cm long. They are in clusters or 15-20 at the tips of the branches. The flower clusters often hang down. The fruit are slender dry capsules about 25 cm long.
Other names :
Akar hujan emas, Akar trompet emas, Kyet-thon-pyu-nwe, Shwe-let-chaung, Shwe-zizawa, Tanga pu,Orange Trumpet Vine
Bignonia ignea Vell.;
Bignonia venusta;
and others
Ravenala madagascariensis - Traveller's Palm, Traveller's Tree
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Cabbage, Seed Oil
An evergreen shrub. It grows to 10-16 m high and spreads to 3-6 m across. The stem is erect, formed by the bases of the old leaves. It is palm like. The leaves are arranged in 2 opposite rows on long leaf stalks which form sheaths around the stem. They are 5 m long, are closely overlapping and open like fans. They are paddle shaped. The flowers are white and have 3 petals. They occur in long spikes and have boat shaped bracts in the axils. The fruit capsules contain seeds with a bright blue seed covering (aril). The seeds are edible.
Salvia hispanica - Chia, Mexican Chia
Edible portion: Leaves, Seeds, Seeds - oil
A small herb. Plants grow up to 1 m tall. It grows each year from seed. The leaves are opposite and 5-8 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. There are notches along the edges. The flowers are small and blue. They are in a spike at the top.
Swietenia humilis - Mexican Mahogany
Edible Portion: No information noted at this time.
A tree.
It is a tropical plant.
Tabebuia rosea - Pink Trumpet Tree
Edible Portion: Caution
A large tree. The bark is grey and has furrows. The leaves are compound with leaflets spread like fingers on hand. There are 5 leaflets. The flowers are pink. They are produced before the leaves.
It is a tropical plant. It grows in wet, moist and dry forests. It grows from sea level to 1,200 m above sea level. It grows in areas with a temperature range between 20°-30° C. It grows in areas with a rainfall above 500 mm.
Tagetes minuta - Mexican marigold
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flowers, Spice
An annual herb. It grows 1-2 m high. The stems are ribbed. The leaves are compound and alternate or opposite. They are 10 -12 cm long with 3-9 leaflets. The leaflets are 1-8 cm long by 5-9 mm wide. The flowers occur in a panicle of heads at the end of the branches or in the axils of leaves. The flower heads are 2-5 mm across. They are white and yellow in the centre. The fruit is a black nut. It is 5-8 mm long. It is hairy.
Theobroma cacao - Cacao
Edible parts - Seeds, Seeds for chocolate, Herb, Flavouring, Spice, Pulp
A small evergreen tree. It grows to 15 m tall. Often it is pruned to be only 6 m tall. The trunk is straight for about 90-159 cm above the ground then a fan arrangement of branches develops. The leaves are large and simple. They are in a spiral arrangement around the branch. They are 17-30 cm long and hang down. They are red brown when young. The leaves are wider towards the pointed tip. The leaves are thin but leathery with prominent veins. The flowers are on short shoots like cushions on the trunk and woody branches. The flowers are small, yellow-white and about 1 cm across. A ribbed pod develops. The pods are large about 15-20 cm long by 10 cm across. They are green when young but become yellow or red. The pods have rows of seeds. There are 20-50 oval seeds. These are white at first then become red-brown as they ripen. There is a sweet pulp surrounding the seeds.
Triadica sebifera - Candleberry-Tree, Chinese Tallowtree
Edible Portion: Seeds - oil
A tree which loses its leaves. It grows 6-9 m high and spreads 4.5-6 m wide. It has a rounded crown. The leaves are 5-10 cm long. They are rounded or almost diamond shaped and dull green. The leaves turn orange or red in autumn. The flowers are yellow-green. The fruit are about the size of peas. The fruit splits open to reveal 3 seeds. These are covered with a layer of pure wax. The seeds are 6 mm across.
