Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets

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.

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.

Glycine max - Soybean

Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Spice, Vegetable

A small erect bean up to 60 cm tall. It grows each year from seed. Straggling kinds can occur. Stems, leaves and pods are softly hairy. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets have stalks. Flowers are small and white or blue. They occur in groups in the axils of leaves. The pods are broad, flat and hairy. Pods have 2-4 seeds. The seeds can be yellow to black.

Lupinus mutabilis - Andean Lupin

Edible Portion: Seeds, Vegetable

An erect annual herb. It grows to 1.5 m tall. It has a thick taproot. It can keep growing from year to year. The stems are branched, woody and mostly without hairs. The leaves have leaflets arranged like fingers on a hand. There are 7-9 leaflets. These are oblong and about 6 cm long by 1.4 cm wide. They are hairy underneath. The flowers are large and have a smell. They are about 2 cm long. The standard is white and blue with a yellow mark in the centre. Many flowers (50-70%) fall off without forming pods. The fruit is a pod. It is finely hairy and does not split open before falling in cultivated varieties. The pods are oblong but pointed at both ends. There can be 130 pods on a plant. The seeds bulge towards the centre. They are 8-10 mm long and 6-8 mm wide. The colour can vary from black to light grey.

Mucuna pruriens - Velvet Bean

EdiblePortion: Seeds, Young pods, Leaves, Vegetable

An evergreen herb of shrub. It is a climbing vine. It climbs to 6 m high. It can re-grow each year or live for a few years. The stems are slender with long, slender branches. They are very hairy when young. The leaves are alternate with sword shaped leaves. The leaf stalks are hairy. There are 3 leaflets. The leaflets are 5-19 cm long and 4-16 cm wide. The leaflets are rounded at the base and the side leaflets are unequal in shape. The flowers are large and white with bluish butterfly shaped petals. They occur in clusters of 2 or 3. The flowers are 2-4 cm long. The fruit are thick, leathery pods covered with hairs. They are 10 cm long and contain 4-6 seeds. The pods are dark brown.

Pisum sativum - Pea

Edible Portion: Seeds, Pods, Leaves, Vegetable

A short lived herb plant. A creeping plant with white or pink flowers. Plants can be 30 cm to 150 cm tall. It has a well developed tap root and many slender side roots. The stem is weak and round. Leaves are made up of 1-3 pairs of leaflets and a branched tendril at the end. There are large leaf like stipules at the base of the leaf. The lower half of these stipules has teeth. The flowers occur in the axils of leaves and are either on their own or in 2-3 flowered clusters with equal length stalks. The flowers are pink or purple in varieties grown for dry seeds and usually white in kinds grown for fresh pods. The pods are swollen and green and can have up to 10 seeds inside. Seed shape can vary. Large numbers of varieties have been recorded.

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus - Winged Bean

Edible Portion: Seeds, Pods, Leaves, Flowers, Roots, Vegetable

A climbing perennial bean up to 3 or 4 m tall. It can re-grow each year from the fattened roots. The stems twine around supports or trail over the ground. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaf stalks are long. The leaflets are 8-15 cm long. The flowers are blue or white. They occur on the ends of branches from within the axils of leaves. Pods have wavy wings or are roughly square in cross section. They are 6-36 cm long with 5-30 seeds. Seeds can be white, yellow, brown or black. They are bedded in the solid tissues of the pod. The seeds are round smooth and brown with a small hilum. Nodules on the roots are many and large.

Sphenostylis stenocarpa - African Yam Bean

Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Tubers, Root, Pods, Vegetable

A vigorous climbing vine. It is a herb that grows 1.5-2 m high. The leaves have 3 leaflets. They are 14 cm long and 5 cm wide.
The flowers are pink, purple or greenish-white. They are 2.5 cm long. They are on stout stalks in the axils of leaves. The seed
pods are smooth. They are flat but have both edges raised. They are 25-30 cm long by 1-1.5 cm wide. The seeds vary in shape,
size and colour. They can be 1 cm long by 0.7 cm wide. They can be cream or brown. There are small narrow tubers under the
ground. They can be 5-7.5 cm long and weigh 50-150 g. The flesh is white and watery.