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
554 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 8000 - 8000) Previous | Next
Himalayacalamus hookerianus - Himalayan Blue Bamboo
Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal, Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 6 m tall. It grows in clumps and keeps growing from year to year. The stems are 5-9 m long and 2-4 cm wide. The internodes are 15-20 cm long. The culm sheaths are 30-40 cm long. The leaf blades are narrowly sword shaped and 15-30 cm long by 1-4 cm wide.
Indocalamus tessellatus - Large-Leaved Bamboo, Zong ye Zhu
Edible Portion: Leaves - Flavouring
A bamboo. It grows 1-2 m tall. The stems are 4-7 mm across. The internodes are 25 cm long. It has the largest leaves of any bamboo. They can be 20-60 cm long and 10 cm wide.
Lactuca sativa var. augustana - Celtuce, Asparagus Lettuce, Chinese Lettuce
Edible Portion: Stalk, Leaves, Vegetable
A lettuce plant with an edible stalk. It is an annual plant. It develops a stem 3-4 cm thick and 30 cm tall. The seed stalk is eaten like celery or cooked. The leaves are curled. There are several cultivated varieties.
Yushania maculata - Maculata Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 4-6 m tall. The stems are 1-1.5 cm across. The internodes are 30-40 cm long. The leaves are narrow or sword shaped and 9-15 cm long and 1 cm wide.
Melocalamus compactiflorus - Bangladesh Scrambling Bamboo, Climbing Bamboo
Edible Portion: Seeds, Shoots
A bamboo or rattan. It forms clumps and is scrambling. It grows 10-15 m tall or longer. The stalks are slightly zigzag shaped and 1.5 cm across. The internodes are 20-30 cm long. The leaves are sword shaped. The flowering shoots are large. The seeds are large and mealy.
Melocanna baccifera - Berry Bamboo, Mali Bamboo
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Cereal, Shoots
An evergreen bamboo. The culms are single and spread 60 cm apart. They come from a long creeping rhizome. They are bright green and 8-15 m long by 4-6 cm wide. The internodes are 30-50 cm long. The walls are thin. They are about 6 mm thick. The culm sheath is 13-18 cm long. The blade is long and narrow and tapers to the tip. It is 30 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. The flowers droop. There are branches along one side with clusters of 3-4 spikelets. These are 1.2 cm long and spiny. The fruit are 10 cm long by 7.5 cm wide. They are fleshy and pear shaped. There is a curved beak at the end. There can be 8-10 fruit in a cluster around each node. Flowering occurs at intervals of about 30 years.
Neololeba atra - Cape Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Growing Tip
A bamboo. It grows up to about 5 m tall and has canes about 3 cm across. There are several woody light coloured stems. It forms thick clumps which are hard to penetrate. The leaves are 20-50 cm long by 6-10 cm wide and rounded at the base. The leaves are light green. There are distinct hairs on the leaf sheath where the blade joins the stalk. The leaf sheath completely surrounds the stem. It flowers almost continually and doesn't die after flowering.
Oldeania alpina - Mountain Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A bamboo. A very large hollow-stemmed grass. It usually grows 6-8 m tall but can grow 12-25 m tall. The stems are smooth and woody. They are yellow brown. They grow from fattened underground stems (rhizomes). A ring of thin branches grow from the joints at the upper ends. Leaves grow off these small branches. Stems can reach 7-10 cm across. The leaves are pale green and up to 20 cm long by 1 cm wide. Flowers are rarely seen. They are 10-20 cm long. After flowering the plant dies down.
Oxytenanthera abyssinica - Lowland Bamboo, Savannah Bamboo, Wine Bamboo
Edible Portion: Seeds, Young Shoots, Cereal, Sap, Manna, Vegetable
A bamboo or grass. It grows 10-15 m high. It grows in dense clumps. The stem is solid. It is 8-10 cm wide at the base. It arches slightly at the tips. The sheaths are covered with short dark brown bristly hairs. These can be rubbed off. (They irritate the hands). The leaves are bluish green and narrowly sword shaped. They are 5-25 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. They taper to a spine tipped point. The flowers occur in 1-4 flowered spikes. The upper flowers are of both sexes. The lower flowers are sterile. The grains narrowly taper to both ends. After flowering the clump dies back to re-shoot from the base.
