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
Phyllostachys rubromarginata - Red-Margined Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 14 m tall. The culms are slender with long internodes. They are green but turn yellow. They are 2.5 cm long and the internodes 22-31 cm long. There are 2-3 leaves on the last branch.
Phyllostachys sulphurea - Sulphur bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. The stems are 7-8 m tall and 3-4 cm wide. They are yellow or pale green. The leaves are sword shaped and 5-20 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They can be striped.
Phyllostachys violascens - Early Bamboo, Running Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 8-10 cm tall. The culms are 4-6 cm across. The internodes are 15-25 cm long. There are 2 or 3 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blade is 6-18 cm long by 1-2 cm wide.
Phyllostachys viridiglaucescens - Farinose Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 4-8 m tall. It forms clumps. The culms are 4-5 cm across. The canes are grooved on alternate sides between the nodes. The canes are green. The internodes are 21-25 cm long. There are 1-3 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blades are 10-14 cm long by 1-2 cm wide.
Phyllostachys viridis - Green Sulphur, Chinese Running Green Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots, Vegetable
A bamboo.
Phyllostachys decora - Beautiful Bamboo
Edible Portion: Buds, Shoots
A slender bamboo. It has a creeping rhizome or underground stem. The culms are 8 m long and 3 cm across. They are green. The internodes are 12-16 cm long. They are slightly ribbed. The shoots are 20-30 cm long by 1.5 cm wide.
Phyllostachys edulis - Moso Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 20 m tall. The stems are 20 cm across. The internodes are 40 cm long. There are 2-4 leaves on the last branch. The leaf blade is 4-11 cm long by 1 cm wide.
Pleioblastus simonii - Simon Bamboo
Edible Portion: Shoots
A bamboo. It grows 6 m tall. It has several leafy branches at each node. The leaves are 30 cm long. The shoots are 2 cm across.
Polygonatum falcatum - Deer bamboo
Edible Portion: Leaves, Root, Shoots
A small plant that keeps growing from year to year. The stems are 1 m long. They have a red tint. The leaves are long and narrow. The flowers are small and are carried singly.
