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
808 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 8000 - 7000) Previous | Next
Yushania anceps - Anceps bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 3-4 m tall. It forms clumps 4-8 m wide. The canes are upright and shiny and dark green. They have drooping branches and narrow sword shaped leaves 15 cm long.
Schizostachyum lima - Anos Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
An endemic erect thin walled bamboo. It is distinguished among all the Philippines forms by long internodes usually about 1m in length. The stem is about 2.5 to 4.8 cm across and green without spines. Branches on the fifth node may or may not be present.
Schizostachyum zollingeri - Lampar Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A tufted bamboo. It forms many tillers. It grows 10-20 m tall. It has long joints and thin walls. The stems are 8-10 cm across. The tips droop. The leaf sheath is 15 cm tall with a leaf blade is purplish when young and 9 cm long by 9 cm wide. The leaf bade is 40 cm long by 7 cm wide.
Semiarundinaria fastuosa - Narihira bamboo, Temple bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A tall upright bamboo. It grows 7 m high and spreads 2 m wide. The canes are shiny and mid green. They are 1-4 cm wide. They have few leaves on the lower sections. There are purple-brown stripes on the canes. There are 3 branches at each node.
Thamnocalamus spathiflorus - Spathe bamboo
Shoots
Edible parts - Seeds, a bamboo grass. It has a rhizome neck 6 cm long. The culms are 3-4 m tall and 1-2 cm wide. The internodes are 15-18 cm long. There are 3-6 branches.em, Cereal, Shoots
Schizostachyum dullooa - Dulu bamboo, Duullooa bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows in tufts. The stems (culms) are erect and 6-9 m long. They are 3-7 cm across. They are woody. The internodes are 40-75 cm long and hollow. The sheaths are 12-30 cm long and 10-25 cm wide.
Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Pods, Sprouts, Vegetable
An upright perennial shrubby legume. It lives for 3-4 years. They can be up to about 4 m tall and spreads to 1.5 m wide. The stem is erect and branching. It has a bushy appearance. It has a strong deep taproot. The root nodules are round and sometimes lobed. Young stems are angled and hairy. A leaf consists of 3 leaflets. Leaflets are narrow and green with a silvery green underneath. Leaflet size can be 10 cm x 3 cm. The end leaflet is larger with a longer leaf stalk. Flowers are red and yellow. The large petal has red lines. They are pea shaped and on branched flower stalks which stick upwards in the axils of leaves. Pods are long, straight and narrow, often with 4-8 seeds. The pods are slightly hairy. Pods are often 4-8 cm long and have a beak at the end. Pods are constricted between the seeds. Many varieties of pigeon pea occur. Some are dwarf and day length neutral. Seeds vary in shape, size and colour.
Canavalia ensiformis - Jack Bean
Legumes
Edible parts - Seeds, Leaves, Young pods, Spice, Flowers, Vegetable
A perennial climber, although short kinds do occur. Often it is a more bushy plant than the sword bean. Plants up to 1.5 m long. Stems can be hairy. Leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are oval and 5.7-20 cm long by 3.2-11.5 cm wide. The leaf tends to be wedge shaped at the base. The leaf stalks are 2.5-11 cm long. Flowers are red/purple. They occur on flower clusters 5-12 cm long and with flower cluster stalks which are 10-34 cm long. The individual flower stalks are 2-5 mm long. Pods are long and sword shaped. Pods can be 15-35 cm long. Seeds are white with a light brown hilum half as long as the seed. Seeds are 2 cm long, by 1 cm across.
Cyamopsis tetragonolobus - Guar Bean
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Shoots, Pods, Seeds, Gum, Vegetable
A herb. It is an upright bushy plant often only 1 m high. Some kinds grow 3 m high. The branches are stiff and usually with white hairs. The branches stick upwards and are angled and with grooves. The leaves are produced alternately and have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are oval and with slight saw teeth around the edge. The leaf stalks have grooves. The flowers are small in clusters in the axils of leaves. The flowers are white with pink wings. It produces clusters of thick fleshy pods. They are stiff and straight. There is a double ridge along the top of the pod and a single one below. There are also 2 ridges along the flat sides. The pods have a beak at the end. There are 8-10 small oval seeds inside.
Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Acacia
Edible Portion: Seeds, Gum, Leaves as Condiment, Spice, Vegetable, Pods
An evergreen shrub. It grows to 5-7 m tall and 3 m across. The stem is slender and erect. The crown is open. It is a spreading, densely branched shrub. The bark is smooth and brown. The leaves are branched and green. There are 4-6 pairs of larger leaves and 10-20 pairs of small leaflets. They have tiny leaflets and thorns up to 2 cm long, occur in pairs. The leaf stalk has a gland at or above the middle. The flowers are large orange balls. They are strongly perfumed. (The oil is used as a perfume in France.) The pods are long and dark brown to black. They are 5-8 cm long by 0.5-1 cm wide. They are inflated and sausage like. Often they are curved. They are marked with narrow lines. The pods have hard grey seeds imbedded in a pithy substance. The pods do not split open at maturity. The seeds are chestnut brown and 7-8 mm long by 5.5 mm wide.
