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
552 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
Carissa macrocarpa - Natal Plum, Large Num-Num, Carissa
EdiblePortion: Fruit
A small evergreen shrub. It grows up to 5 m tall. It branches densely and has many forked spines. They are usually in pairs at the top of shoots. The branches are smooth and light brown. branches exude milky latex when cut. The leaves are produced opposite one another. They are simple leaves with short stalks. The leaves are oval and shiny. The top surface is dark green and the lower surface is paler green. The leaf has a thorn like tip. The flowers are in clusters at the ends of twigs. The flowers are 5 cm across and white. They have a sweet smell. The flowers a like tubes and the petals spread out. The fruit are oval red berries. They are 2.5-5 cm long. They are produced on the tips of young shoots. Seeds are flat and papery. The number of seeds varies. The fruit are edible.
Ceratonia siliqua - Carob
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Seeds, Spice
An evergreen tree. It grows 12-15 m tall. It spread to 4 m across. It has a dark green round crown of compound leaves. These almost hide the trunk. The trunk is short, erect and thick. The leaves are leathery. The tree flowers in autumn. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. They grow in flower clusters on the previous year's growth. The flowers are small and red. The pods develop in spring. The flat pods are 30 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. They are thick, brown rough and leathery. The seed are constant in size and were used for the carat weight (200 mg). There are several cultivated varieties.
Chrysobalanus icaco - Cocoplum, Icaco
Edible Portion: Fruit, Kernel, Seeds, Oil, Nuts
A shrub or small evergreen tree. It grows 1-6 m tall. The branches are long, flexible and whip-like. The leaves are evenly spaced and leathery. They are rounded and stiffly erect. They are simple and rich green. The flowers are small and greenishwhite. They are in erect clusters in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is smooth and white, yellow, red, black or purple. It has a cotton like pulp. The fruit contains a large nut-like edible seed with 5 ridges.
Citrofortunella microcarpa x - Calamondin Orange, Panama Orange
Edible Portion: Fruits
Probably a natural hybrid of Citrus reticulata and Fortunella sp. A small citrus tree. It is 2-8 m tall. It is slightly thorny. The leaves are smaller than most citrus. They are 4-7 cm long. They are evergreen and alternate. They are broadly oval and dark green and glossy on the upper surface and yellowish-green underneath. The flowers have five oval and pure white petals. They are 2.5 cm across. The flowers occur singly or on small clusters or 2-3 in the axils of leaves near the ends of stems. The fruit resemble a tangerine. They are about 4 cm across. Fruit are sweet, juicy and acidic. There are 6-10 segments and the pulp is orange. They can be seedless or have small, greenish, oval and pointed seeds.
Citrofortunella sp. x Fortunella crassifolia - Orangequats
Edible Portion: Fruit
An artificial hybrid plant between a kumquat and a mandarin. The fruit tastes like a kumquat.
Citrus glauca - Australian Desert Lime, Native Cumquat
Edible Portion: Fruit
A medium sized shrub or small tree. It often has several stems and grows up to 2-3 m high. It can be up to 12 m high and 1-3 m across. The bark is brown and cracked. The new shoots are angular. The stems are spiny. The leaves are 1-5 cm long by 0.2 -0.4 cm wide. They are narrow and spoon shaped. The leaves have a blue-grey colour. The flowers are 1-1.3 cm across. They are white or green and have a sweet scent. The fruit is round to oval and about 2 cm across. The skin of the fruit is light yellow green. It contains large oil glands. The fruit are often seedless. The seeds have furrows along them.
Citrus hystrix - Wild lime, Kaffir lime
Edible Portion: Leaves, Fruit, Spice
A low shrubby tree up to 6 or 8 m high. The trunk is thin and crooked. It has slender sharp thorns. The leaf petiole has very large lobes. The leaf is oval. The leaves can be 8-15 cm long by 3-5 cm wide including the leafy stalks. The leaves are dark green and shiny above and pale and matt underneath. The flowers are small and white. The fruit are small (8 cm across) with a rough, thick skin and very little edible pulp inside. They are very acid. The peel of the fruit is very fragrant.
Citrus japonica - Hong Kong Wild Kumquat
Edible Portion: Fruit
A shrub which keeps its leaves all year round. It grows about 2-4 m tall. It is spiny. The leaves are a narrow oval shape. They taper sharply at both ends. The leaf stalks have wings. The flowers are white, short and broad. The fruit are a flattened round shape. They are 1-2 cm across. They have 3-4 segments. The fruit become a bright orange when ripe.
Citrus japonica cv crassifolia - Large Round Kumquat
Edible Portion: Fruit
A shrub or small tree. It often lacks thorns. The leaves are thick and rigid and often folded lengthwise. They have many dark green oil glands. The leaves are small. The leaf stalks have narrow wings. The fruit are oval or almost round. The fruit is small, orange and sweet. They are 3-4 cm across. The skin is edible. The fruit have about 7 segments.
Citrus japonica cv japonica - Kumquat, Round Kumquat
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small evergreen tree. It is thorny. It grows to about 4 m high. The leaves are simple and entire. They are up to 7 cm long. They have blunt tips. They are leathery. The flowers are white. The fruit are 3 cm across. They are smooth and shiny. They are divided into 4-7 compartments. They are yellow. The skin is thin and waxy and is spicy.
