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
562 Problématiques abordées dans cette publication (Affichage des numéro 4000 - 4000) Précédent | Suite
Solanum macrocarpon - African Eggplant
Edible Portion: Leaves, Fruit, Flowers, Vegetable
An annual plant. It can keep groing for some years. The leaves are dark green and glossy. The leaf stalk is not well defined as the leaf blade runs down into the stalk. Leaves are generally not very hairy. The flowers are purple or sometimes white. The flowers are large. The fruit are are round and greenish white but become orange-yellow or brown when fully ripe. They are hard or firm with long calyces around the fruit.
Aleurites moluccanus - Candle Nut, Country Walnut
Edible Portion: Kernel, Seeds, Nuts, Vegetable
A large tree up to 40 m tall and 1 m through at the base. The bark is rough. The leaves are large and can be round, triangular or have several lobes. The leaves have a pale colour. The leaves are alternate, silvery green and crowded near the tips. Young leaves are hairy and sometimes lobed. The leaves, leaf stalks and flowers are all covered with short soft hairs. There are 2 distinct brown glands where the leaf blade and stalk join. The flowers are small and white and in large groups on the ends of branches. Male and female flowers are separate but on the same tree. The female flowers are on the end surrounded by small male flowers. The fruit is a large (4 to 5 cm across) green 2 lobed berry with 1 or 2 large (2.5 cm across) seeds with a hard corrugated shell. They do not open naturally to release the seeds.
Phyllostachys aurea - Fishpole Bamboo, Golden Bamboo
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. The stems are tough and erect. They are smooth and olive-green. They are more yellow in the sun. They are 25-40 mm wide. The leaf joints are enlarged and produce attractive yellow leaves. These are 5-10 cm
Abelmoschus manihot - Aibika, Edible Hibiscus
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flower buds, Vegetable, Root, Fruit, Pods
A branched shrub up to 2 m or more high. It has rounded twigs which are green and smooth. The leaves are simple, smooth and with 3 to 5 lobes. The leaves are large and can vary in shape. Normally the leaves are very dark green, but occasionally pale green types occur. The leaf stalks are 6 to 13 cm long. The stalks can be green or have red colours on them. The flowers are borne singly and are yellow with dark purple centres. They are produced on mature bushes and the flowers are hibiscus like. The fruit pods are rather stiff or with bristly hairs. They are a dry capsule with many small seeds. Plants can last for a year or for several years. Old plants produce a hibiscus type flower
Codiaeum variegatum - Croton, Variegated Laurel
Edible Portion: Leaves, Vegetable
A shrub or small tree. It grows 3-8 m high. The leaves vary in shape. They are oval and taper to the base. They are thick and leathery. Leaves can have a range of colours. They are 10-20 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. Flowers are separately male and female. The male flowers are in groups of 2-6 while the female flowers are single. The fruit is a capsule 0.6-0.8 cm across.
Diplazium esculentum - Vegetable-Fern, Paco Fern
Edible Portion: Fronds, Leaves, Vegetable
A large fern with an upright stem. It forms tufts. It is only woody near the base. It can be 1 m high and 1 m wide. It usually grows as a large clump. It spreads by underground runners. They have feather like fronds which are 50 to 80 cm long and divided 2 or 3 times. The leaf stalks are black near the bottom. The secondary leaflets are pointed at the tip. The end sections of the leaf are many, about 8 cm long and 1 cm wide. The leaflets are notched like a saw and about 2 to 5 cm long.
Helianthus tuberosus - Jerusalem Artichoke
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 green and sword shaped. The flowers are yellow and daisy like. It produces fleshy underground stem tubers of irregular shape. The skin of these tubers is very thin and often coloured yellow or red. The flesh is white. Tubers can be 10 cm long and 6 cm wide. There are several cultivated varieties.
Medicago sativa - Alfalfa, Lucerne
Edible Portion: Seeds, Sprouts, Leaves, Vegetable
A herb. It is an erect or spreading legume. It grows to 80 cm high and spreads to 30-80 cm wide. It forms deep roots. It keeps growing from year to year. The stems are slender and hairy. The leaves are bluish green. The leaves have 3 leaflets like clover. The leaflets are oval or narrow. They are 3 cm long. The flowers are mauve. They appear in long stalked bunches. The fruit are small sickle shaped pods. The pods are deep brown. There are any named cultivated varieties.
Pennisetum purpureum - Elephant Grass, Napier Grass
Edible Portion: Flowers, Shoots, Vegetable
A grass which keeps growing from year to year. It forms large clumps. It can grow 2-4 m tall. The leaf blades are 4 cm wide. The edges become very sharp. The flowers are dense and spike like. They are yellow, brown and purple.
Pterocarpus indicus - Burmese Rosewood
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable
A medium sized evergreen tree. It grows to 27-30 m high and spreads to 4 m across. The stem is erect and stout. It branches. The trunk is 60-80 cm across. The leaves are compound with an odd number of leaflets. These are oval. The leaves are 20-45 cm long. The leaflets are 6-10 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. It can lose its leaves. The flowers are yellow and woolly. The sepals forming the outer ring of the flowers are brown. The flowers occur as many in a branched flower arrangement. The flowers are bell shaped. The fruit are round pods. These are 5 cm across. They can have 1 or 2 seeds but sometimes 4.
