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Plant Fact Sheets about Starchy Staples from Food Plants International.



  1. Some 3 billion people in the world live outside the cash economy in the worldā€™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...
  2. Edible Portion: Shoots, Seeds, Cereal A densely tufted bamboo. The culm or stem is 30 m tall. It is 1`5-18 cm across. The wall is very thick. The internodes are 20-40cm long. The stem is bright green. The nodes are slightly swollen. The lower nodes can have aerial roots. There are branchesfrom...
  3. Shoots Edible parts - shoots A bamboo. The stems are 6-12 m long. They are 4-6 cm across. They droop slightly at the top. The internodes are 30-40 cmlong. There are several branches that are in clusters.
  4. Edible Portion:Flowers A bamboo. It grows 5-10 m tall. The stems are 5-8 cm across. The tips hang down. The internodes are 15-30 cm long.Branches are higher up the stem.
  5. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo.
  6. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo. The stems can be 21 m tall. They can be 10 cm across. They are green when young and then mature to black. Theleaves are long and hang down. They can be 25 cm long.
  7. Edible Portion: Shoots A hollow tufted bamboo. It forms clumps. It is 2-6 m tall. It has slender stalks. The stalks are 1-2.5 cm across. They arch overat the tips. The internodes are 30-50 cm long. The culm sheath is 12-15 cm long by 6-8 cm wide. It is light green when youngand turns...
  8. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo. It grows 10-15 m tall. The stems are 8 cm across. They form loose clumps. The stems are smooth and green with awhite ring below the nodes. The nodes are slightly thickened and often hairy. The internodes are 25-45 cm long and the wallsare thick. The sheaths are...
  9. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo. It grows 8-10 m tall. The stems are 3-5 cm across. The tips are slightly drooping. The internodes are 40-70 cmlong. They are white and powdery when young. The leaf blades are 9-17 cm long
  10. Edible Portion:Shoots, Rhizomes, Root A thick walled tufted bamboo. It grows to about 20 m tall. It is almost un-branched near the base but branches higher up. Thenodes are slightly thickened. The internodes are 40-65 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. They have a white ring around the node.They are...
  11. Edible Portion: Shoots A densely tufted bamboo. The culm or stem is erect but nodding at the tip. They grow 6-10 m tall. The stems are 3-5 cm acrossat the base. The young stems are covered with white wax. The internodes are 30-36 cm long. The lowest 1 or 2 nodes have aring of grey silky hairs...
  12. Edible Portion: Shoots An erect clump forming spineless bamboo. It is a large bamboo with strong stalks used for buildings. The stalks can be 20 m talland 5-10 cm across at the base. They are often not straight. The stalks can be green and glossy or yellow or yellow with greenstripes. It very...
  13. Edible Portion: Shoots, Flavouring A tufted bamboo. It loses its leaves during the year. The culm or stem is erect and the tip hangs over. It grows 7-30 m high.The stem is 2.5-7.5 cm across. The wall is very thin. It is a greenish white with hairs below the nodes. The internodes are 25-40cm long....
  14. Edible Portion:Corm, Leaves, Stalks, Vegetable, Root, Flowers This plant has large flat leaves on the end of upright leaf stalks. It grows up to 1 m high. The leaf stalk or petiole joins the leaf towards the centre of the leaf. The leaves are 20-50 cm long. Near the ground a thickened rounded...
  15. Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves A small evergreen shrub. It has many stems. It grows to about 1.6 m tall but can grow to 2.5 m tall in good growing conditions.It has a long tap root. The leaves are 3-5 cm long. They are divided into 4 pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are oval and leathery.They are...
  16. Edible Portion:Seeds, Cereal, Rhizome, Root An annual grass. The stems are slender. They can lie along the ground. These can form roots at the nodes. They can have runners and form mats. It is 15-60 cm high. The edges of the leaf sheaths have small hairs. The leaf blades are flat and 5-20 cm long...
  17. Edible Portion: Shoots A very large densely tufted bamboo. It is a woody grass. It forms large groves. The culms or stems can be 20-30 m high. Theclumps can spread 12-24 m wide. The stalks are 15-20 cm across. They are covered with fine velvety brown hairs when young.The internodes can be 10-20...
  18. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo which forms an open clump. The culm or stem is very straight. It grows 20-24 m high. It is 6-10 cm across. It has awhite powdery covering over it when young. It turns green on maturity. The internodes are 22-38 cm long. The lower node hasaerial roots. There are...
  19. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo. It grows 5-12 m tall. The culms are 6-8 cm wide. The internodes are green or yellow with green stripes. They are30-45 cm long. The leaves are 10-25 cm long by 2-3 cm wide.
  20. Edible Portion:Tubers, Root, Vegetable, Bulbils A yam with a long angular vine. It can climb 15 m high. The stems are square and twine to the right around support sticks. Thestem does not have spines. It is often coloured green or purple. The leaves are heart shaped and borne in pairs along the...
  21. Edible Portion: Tuber, Root, Bulbils, Vegetable A yam with a long smooth stemmed vine, round in cross section. It winds to the left. It does not have spines. The vine can climbup into trees and grow to long lengths. The leaves are large and round. They are pointed at the tip and round at the...
  22. Edible Portion: Shoots, Seeds, Cereal, Vegetable A millet grass. It is an annual grass. It is robust and forms many tillers or young shoots from the base. It grows 40-120 cm tall.The stems are somewhat flattened. The leaves are narrow. The flower heads are made up of 2-7 finger like spikes. These...
  23. Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal A millet grass. It is an annual tufted grass. It grows 60-120 cm tall. It has a slender stem and long narrow smooth leaves. Theflowers occur in loose open panicles. These are 15-35 cm long. The branches are very thin and droop over. The seeds are verysmall. They are...
  24. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo. It forms loose tufts. The stems are 12 m tall and 6-8 cm wide. The
  25. Edible Portion:Shoots A bamboo. It grows 20-33 m high. The young shoots are brown-green and have dark brown hairs. The stems are 7-9 cmacross. There are aerial roots at the nodes. The internodes are 40 cm long. Branches
  26. Edible Portion: Shoots A bamboo
  27. Edible Portion:Seeds, Cereal, Seeds - Tea An erect annual grass. It grows 80-120 cm tall. The nodes are solid and the internodes are hollow. The leaves are narrow.There are 5-10 leaves. They are produced alternately on opposite sides of the stem at the nodes. The leaves are narrowly sword shaped...
  28. Edible Portion: Tuber, Root, Leaves, Vegetable This is a root crop which produces long creeping vines. The leaves are carried singly along the vine. Leaves can vary considerably from divided like fingers on a hand to being entire and rounded or heart shaped. At the end of the vine, trumpet shaped...
  29. Edible Portion: Root, Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable A plant which can re-grow year after year from the thickened roots. It has several stems. The stems are woody and have some branches. Plants grow up to 2 or 3 metres high. Stalks have distinct scars where leaves have fallen. The leaves tend to be...
  30. Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal, Husks - Oil An annual grass with hollow stems. The stems can be 30 cm to 150 cm tall. (Floating varieties can be 5 m long.) The nodesare solid and swollen. The stem is protected by a skin layer which can often be high in silicon. A clump of shoots are producedas...
  31. 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. Thestems are tough and erect. They are smooth and olive-green. They are more yellow in the sun. They are 25-40 mm wide. The...
  32. Edible Poriton: Shoots A bamboo. It grows 7-9 m tall. The stems are 4 cm across. It is a running plant. The internodes are 40 cm long. There are 2 or3 leaves on the last branch.
  33. Edible Portion: Shoots A large bamboo grass. It grows 1.5-3 m high and spreads 1.8-3 m wide. It can be 10-15 m tall and spread 6-15 m wide. It formsclumps. The canes arch over. The canes are green in the first year then turn mottled to almost black. The canes are hollow andcan be 3 cm thick. ...
  34. Edible Portion: Shoots A large bamboo. It grows 9-18 m high and spreads 6-18 m wide. The culms are 10 cm thick. They are thin walled. Theinternodes are 25-35 cm long. There are 2 or 3 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blades are 9-18 cm long by 1-2 cm wide.
  35. Edible portion : Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, - Seeds-oil, Flowers, Roots A small tree or shrub 8-10 m high. It is evergreen. It has smooth bark which is mottled. The bark peels off in smooth flakes. The plant branches close to the ground. The branches are four angled. Trees are shallow rooted. The...
  36. Edible portion : Rhizome, Root, Vegetable A perennial plant up to 2 m high with large fleshy underground rhizomes. The stem is erect. There are 4-8 leaves near the base. There are 1-8 leaves on the stem. It has large leaves on long stalks near the base. These stalks can be 3.5-20 cm long. The...
  37. Edible portion:Leaves, Rhizome, Root, Flowers, Spice, Vegetable A herb 1-2 m tall. It forms tillers. It keeps growing from year to year. It has long leaves which form a sheath at the bottom. The leaves are 30-60 cm long by 7-8 cm wide. They have red spots along the middle vein. The flowers are...
  38. Edible portion : Rhizome, Roots, Leaves, Seeds, Herb, Spice, Flowers, Vegetable A herb which grows year after year. It grows to 1.6 m high and spreads to 1 m across. The rootstock creeps under the ground. This is round like a cylinder and branches. This thick rhizome can be 10-12 cm long by 3 cm...
  39. Edible portion: Sap, Roots, Flowers A tall thick stemmed clumpy grass. It has many nodes. It grows 1-6 m tall. It spreads 100 cm wide. A large number of different cultivated varieties occur. The leaves are long and narrow. They taper to the tip. They are rigid and droop at the tip. The cane...
  40. Edible portion : Flowers, Leaves, Root, Bulb, Herb, Vegetable An onion family plant. It is a herb which keeps growing year after year. It can be 40 cm high. It grows in clumps. These onions have rhizomes but no real bulbs. The leaves are long and grass like, and flat and solid. They are 15-30 cm...
  41. Edible Portion:Seeds, Leaves, Oil, Vegetable An erect branched herb. It grows 30-180 cm tall. The stems are soft and hairy. The leaves are usually carried opposite one another. The leaves do not have stalks and they clasp the stem. The leaves have teeth along the edge and the surface is a little...
  42. Edible portion : Tubers, Root, Leaves, Vegetable, Leaf Stalk, Stem A herb up to 2 m tall. It has a short stem. At the top of the stem it produces large leaves. A corm is produced at the base of the plant. It produces about 10 cormels on the underground corm. These are about 15-25 cm long and...
  43. Edible Portion: Seeds, Cabbage, Starch, Sago, Palm heart, Sap A small slender palm and the only representative of this genus in the Philippines which sends up shoots from the base of thetrunk, forming clumps. It forms a cluster of closely spaced stems. It can be 5 m high. The trunks are 5-15 cm...
  44. Edible Portion: Seeds - Oil A palm.
  45. Edible portion: Seeds, Gum A medium sized shrub 3-8 m tall. It spreads 2-4 m across. The branches have white hairs. The bark can be silvery when young and turns red with age. The leaves (phyllodes) are large and light green. They are 10-15 (-23) cm long by 4-6 cm wide. They are thick and curved...
  46. Edible portion : Root A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaf stalks can be 7 m long and look like banana leaves. The leaves are 1-2 m long. The flowers hang downward. The bracts are yellow with green tips. They are like a parrot's beak. It is a tropical plant. It grows in areas with...
  47. Seeds Edible parts -Seeds, Shoots, Cereal, Sap-drinks A bamboo. The stalks are crooked and knotty.
  48. A shrub. It grows 2 m tall. It has long slender branches. The twigs are green and ribbed. The leaves are alternate and twice divided. There is a large gland at the base of the leaf stalk. The leaves have 2-5 pairs of pinnae and these have 12-18 pairs of leaflets. These are 3-4 mm long. It is a...
  49. Edible portion:Leaves, Roots, Tubers, Seeds, Stems, Vegetable A tree. It grows 10 m high. The stem is crooked and it has bushy branches. The bark is smooth and pale grey. The leaf stalks are 7-14 cm long. The leaf blades are 10-28 cm across. They are deeply divided with 3-5 lobes. They are dark...
  50. 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 greenand sword shaped. The flowers are yellow and daisy like. It produces fleshy underground stem tubers of irregular...
  51. Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Oil A shrub. It grows 2 m high. The leaf stalk is 2.5-8 cm long. The leaf blade is divided into 5 lobes like the fingers on a hand. Theleaves are 5-10 cm across. The lobes are broad and oval and half the length of the leaf. The flowers occur singly in the axils of...
  52. Edible Portion: Leaves, Vegetable, Root An annual herb. It climbs or creeps along the ground. It has branches that divide in two. It often forms a dense ground cover.The stems form roots at the nodes. The leaves are small, opposite and heart shaped. The leaves are 0.8-2 cm long by 0.5-2 cmwide....
  53. Edible Portion: Root, Tuber, Stem, Flower Bud, Vegetable A rush like plant. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 40-60 cm high and spreads 30-45 cm wide. The stems are inrings which are tightly packed. They are 60 cm tall. They are slightly rough and have furrows along them. There are...
  54. Edible Portion: Tuber, Roots, Corm, Leaves, Leaf Stalks, Vegetable A taro family plant but with a very divided leaf. It grows to 0.75-1 m high. It is a herbaceous plant with rough and mottled leafstalks. It has a straight stem and the leaf is divided into leaflets. The leaves can be 1 m in width....
  55. Edible Portion: Fruit, Root, Rhizome, Tubers, Vegetable, Flowers A broad leafed plant with purple leaf sheaths. It is about 1.5 to 2.5 m high. It grows as a perennial. The stems are in clusters.The leaves are large and smooth. They are dark green but can be reddish in some varieties. The leaf...
  56. Edible portion:Root - oil for flavouring A tropical grass. It keeps growing from year to year. It has stout roots. It grows 2 m high. It grows in dense tufts. The leaf blades are 90 cm long by 4-10 mm wide. The flower panicle is oblong and 13-30 cm long. It is a tropical plant. It grows in areas...
  57. Edible Portion: Tubers, Roots, Seeds A bean plant. It is a twining herb. It keeps growing from year to year from root tubers. The leaves are compound with 3 leaflets.The leaf stalks are 2-3 cm long. The leaflets are 4 sided and 2-6 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. The flowering shoots are in the axilsof...
  58. Edible portion:Flowers, Fruit, Root, Stem A shrub. It grows 1.8-2.5 m high and spreads 1.2-1.8 m wide. The trunk is woody. The leaves form a ring at the ends of branches and are blue-green to dark green. The leaves are 60 cm long. They have spines at the tips. The flowers form a spike of...
  59. Edible portions : Tubers, Root, Flowers, Leaves - flavour, Vegetable POW update to Goeppertia from Calathea A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1.5 m high. It has an underground rhizome or stem. There are several large leaves. The leaf is oblong and 20-60 cm long by 5-20 cm wide....
  60. Edible portion: Leaves, Vegetable A shrub. It can grow 2 m tall. It can be a tree up to 7 m tall. It is a small densely shady, rounded tree. The central stem is about 10 cm across. The side branches are 2 cm thick and end abruptly. The cut stem exudes latex. Some varieties have stinging hairs on...