ANACARDIACEAE; fruit drupaceous or dry,
1-plurilocular, 1-5 seeded stone
Species and distribution Common name Details
References
| Anacardium giganteum
Amazonia |
cajui; cajuaçu; caju-da-mata; oloi | forest tree; drupe with enlarged, edible peduncle and kernel, former fresh or for juice, latter roasted | FAO, 1986 |
| Anacardium humile
Brazil |
monkey-nut | nut edible, conserves made of the fruit | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Anacardium nanum
Brazil |
nut edible, conserves made of the fruit | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Anacardium occidentale
tropical America; widely cultivated |
cashew nut | kidney-shaped nut with hard, acrid pericarp around seed (promotion nut, coffin nail); pedicel swells into edible, pear-shaped body (cashew apple) used in preserves, chutneys, etc. also cashew apple juice; roasted kernel eaten as a dessert nut, also in confectionery; pericarp yields the toxic cashew nut-shell liquid - caustic nut shell liquid used in brake linings, clutches, plastic resins, etc. | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; FAO, 1986; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Bianchini et al.,1988; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Anacardium rhinocarpus
South America |
wild cashew | edible fruit, eaten like cashew | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Antrocaryon micraster
West Africa |
fruit pulp edible, may be made into a fermented beverage; seeds difficult to extract, kernel edible, rich in oil; timber for planks and furniture | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Buchanania latifolia
India, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Yunnan |
almondette; cheronjee; Cuddapah almond; Hamilton mombin | medium sized tree; fruit
black, 1-seeded, kernels pear-shaped, 1 cm long, oily, edible, delicious
with a combination of almond and pistachio flavours - known as "almondettes"
occasionally imported into Europe, eaten raw or roasted or in sweetmeats,
pounded and dried fruits made into bread in India, seed oil a substitute
for almond or olive oil; bark and fruit yield a varnish; bark used in tanning;
browsed; gum used in traditional medicine against leprosy; wood for fuel;
trees grown for erosion control
kernel 51.8% oil, 12.1% protein, 21.6% starch, 5% sugars |
Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Gluta elegans
Malaysia |
rengas | seeds edible; sap can cause dermatitis | Menninger, 1977 |
| Gluta renghas
Malesia |
rengas | roasted seeds eaten; timber useful but sap can cause dermatitis | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Gluta velutina
Malaysia |
rengas | seeds edible; sap can cause dermatitis | Menninger, 1977 |
| Lannea schweinfurthii
var. stuhlmannii East Africa |
raw fruit eaten, seeds crushed, boiled with salt and eaten as a relish, bark made into a tisane | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Mangifera altissima
Solomon Islands to Philippines; cultivated |
medang | evergreen tree; immature fruit eaten raw, pickled or mixed with vegetables; ripe fruit eaten or used in preserves; seeds salted and pounded for an edible meal; wood for general construction and indoor woodwork, not durable; locally marketed | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Mangifera indica
Indo-Malesia; widely cultivated in the tropics and subtropics |
mango | evergreen tree; drupe flesh eaten or made into chutney, pickles, squashes, commercially marketed; starchy kernels eaten roasted or dried and pickled, a source of flour and famine food; seed kernel meal fed to cattle and poultry; young leaves eaten as a vegetable; timber for fuel (excellent charcoal), tea-chests and floor-boards | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Mangifera kemanga
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo; commercially cultivated |
kemang | tree; ripe fruit eaten fresh, pickled or made into a juice; fresh, grated seeds sometimes eaten; young leaves eaten | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Mangifera odorata
not known in wild; cultivated in Sumatra, Borneo and Java |
kuwini | tree; fruit peeled to remove acrid skin, eaten fresh or made into chutneys and pickles; seed kernel made into a flour; bark used in traditional medicine; thrives in areas too wet for M. indica | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Pistacia mexicana
S. Mexico to Guatemala |
seeds edible | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Pistacia terebinthus
Mediterranean |
terebinth; Cyperus turpentine | kernel sweet, edible; source of tan galls; formerly source of turpentine | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Pistacia texana
Texas to central Mexico |
Texas pistacio | dioecious shrub or tree; with small, nut-like drupe <1 cm long | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Pistacia vera
Iran to central Asia; widely cultivated in Mediterranean and USA |
pistachio | seed eaten as dessert nut, the pistachio nut of commerce, used in ice-cream and confectionery | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Pleiogynium timoriense
Queensland |
Burdekin or sweet plum | fruit used in jams and jellies; timber good; ornamental street tree | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Sclerocarya birrea
subsp. birrea N. tropical Africa subsp. caffra E. and southern Africa |
marula |
dioecious tree
fruit flesh used to make alcoholic beverage; kernel oily, eaten dioecious tree; fruit eaten, flesh rich in vitamin C, stone contains 2-3 highly nutritious embryos |
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger,
1977
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Arnold et al. 1985; Peters et al. 1992 |
| Semecarpus anacardium India; cultivated in tropical Asia, Australia and Africa | marking nut; varnish tree; Australian corkscrew; oriental cashew | ripe fruit collected, acrid and astringent when fresh, juice of which a strong skin irritant, kernels eaten roasted flavour of roasted apples, dried with taste like dates; roasted pedicel eaten; sap of unripe fruit mixed with lime used for marking linen, hence vernacular name; pericarp contains ca. 9% of an irritating oil used in traditional medicine and industrially in lacquers, paints and insulating material; wood used for charcoal | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977;
Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989; Verheij and Coronel, 1992 |
| Semecarpus vitiensis New Caledonia, Fiji | kernel eaten, care required to avoid fruit blistering latex, | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Spondias mombin
tropical America; occasionally cultivated |
yellow Spanish or yellow mombin; jobo; hog plum | fresh fruit pulp eaten raw, cooked, in confectionery or fermented; seed eaten; young leaves eaten as a vegetable; wood used for boxes, pulp or fuel; browsed by cattle and pigs; melliferous; grown as shade tree | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1978; FAO, 1982, 1986 Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Trichoscypha longifolia
West Africa |
oily kernel eaten | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 |
ANISOPHYLLEACEAE; fruit indehiscent, woody
to drupaceous
| Poga oleosa
W. tropical Africa |
inoi nut, African Brazil nut, m'poga | nuts with hard, bony shell, marketed locally; seed kernel eaten; seed oil used for cooking; formerly exported to Liverpool as oilseed | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1987; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
ARALIACEAE; fruit usually a drupe or berry
| Panax trifolius
E. North America |
groundnut | herb with slightly pungent, edible, subglobose rootstock | Howes, 1948 |
BIGNONIACEAE; fruit a 2-valved capsule, rarely
fleshy and indehiscent
| Crescentia alata
W. Central America |
Mexican calabash | ripe seeds a popular festival food | Menninger, 1972 |
| Crescentia cujete
tropical America and Caribbean; cultivated |
calabash tree | young fruit pickled, flesh not very palatable; seeds cooked and eaten and used to make a drink in Nicaragua, source of a syrup and oil; woody pericarp used for bowls, etc. | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Kigelia africana
tropical Africa |
sausage tree | fruit pulp and bark used for making beer; roasted seeds famine food; fruit purgative | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Oroxylum indicum
Philippines |
midnight horror; pinkapinkahan | seeds eaten; leaves cooked as a vegetable; bark bitter, used medicinally; bark and fruits source of dye used in rattan basketry, also for tanning; wood used for fuel | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Parmentiera cereifera
Panama; cultivated |
candle tree; cuachilote | fruit and seeds eaten in Mexico; fodder source | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
BOMBACACEAE; fruit a locucidal capsule, rarely
fleshy and indehiscent
| Adansonia digitata
tropical Africa; occasionally cultivated |
baobab | Pulp eaten raw, seed kernel eaten raw, roasted or boiled; bark for cloth and cordage; all parts of the tree utilised; grown as an avenue tree and ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Wickens, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Adansonia gregorii
West Australia |
baobab | seeds eaten by Aborigines; source of fibre | Menninger, 1977; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Ceiba pentandra
tropical South America; widely cultivated |
kapok or silk cotton tree | young fruit edible; seeds eaten pounded in soup or roasted, source of edible oil; oil used as lubricant, illuminant, soap and paints; hairs from carpel walls the kapok of commerce; wood used for matches | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Durio ziberthinus
W. Malesia; widely cultivated in Malaysia |
durian; civet fruit | malodorous but highly esteemed fruit, aril of unripe fruit eaten as a vegetable; boiled or roasted seeds eaten; rind used for fuel; wood light, used for cheap furniture, etc.; plant used in traditional medicine | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Pachira aquatica
tropical America, estuaries; cultivated |
Guyana or Malabar chestnut | delicious chestnut-flavoured seeds roasted and eaten, contain ca. 50% oil; young leaves and flowers eaten as vegetable; bark source of red dye, fibre for cordage; wood suitable for paper-making | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Pachira insignis
Central America |
maranhao nut | seeds eaten; young leaves and flowers also eaten | Hedrick, 1977; Menninger, 1977 |
| Rhodognaphalon schumannianum
tropical Africa |
seeds cooked and eaten | Peters et al., 1992 |
BURSERACEAE; fruit a drupe with 1-5 1-seeded
stones or 1 stones with all seeds, rarely a capsule
| Boswellia serrata
India; cultivated |
Indian olibanum | tree; flowers and seeds eaten; wood used to make paper and tea chests, fuel; cultivated for its fragrant gum-resin | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Canarium album
S. China, Vietnam; cultivated |
canarium; Chinese olive | tree; fruit pulp and seeds edible, sold on the world market; wood and resin sometimes used; grown as an ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium harveyi
Solomon Islands |
Santa Cruz Ngallinut | oily nut edible; oil used locally for cosmetics; potential for development | Pelomo, 1993 |
| Canarium indicum
Malaysia to Melanesia; cultivated |
Java almond; kanari or ngali nut | tall buttressed tree, drupe, endocarp hard, thin and brittle, triangular in cross section, c 3 g, seeds 3; oily "pili" nuts (seeds) eaten after removal of testa raw or roasted, eaten in Sri Lanka as a dessert nut, made into bread in the Celebes, highly esteemed in Melanesia where several races cultivated; fresh seed oil mixed with food, also used as an illuminant; grown as a shade tree | Hawes, 1948; Leenhouts, 1956; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Macrae et al., 1993; Pelomo, 1993 |
| Canarium littorale
Malaysia |
nuts small, hard-shelled, kernel edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Canarium luzonicum
S.E. Asia |
Java almond, pili nut, elemi | "oily pili" nuts edible; seed oil source of "Manila elmi" for varnishes, etc. | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Canarium muelleri
Queensland |
deciduous tree; nuts very small, eaten by Aborigines | Menninger, 1977; Lazarides et al., 1993 | |
| Canarium ovatum
Philippines; cultivated |
pili or Philippine nut | evergreen tree; oily "pili" nuts eaten raw or roasted as a dessert nut or used commercially in confectionery, emulsion of kernels used as milk substitute; seed oil edible, source of "Manila elmi" for varnishes, etc., also used as an illuminant; young shoots edible; shell used for fuel and carving; grown as an avenue tree and windbreak | Howes, 1948; Leenhouts, 1956; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium pateninervium
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia; Sumatra, Borneo |
kedondong | tree; seeds eaten; soft, light wood used for fuel | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium pilosum
Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei |
damar lilin | tree; seeds sweet, eaten; wood durable used for houses; resin used to close wounds | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium pimela
S. China, Hainan, Indo-China, Borneo; cultivated |
Chinese black olive | tree; oily "pili" nuts edible, fruit candies or pickled; sold on the world market; wood and resin sometimes used; fruit and leaves used in local medicine | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium salomonense
Solomon Islands, New Guinea |
adoa | oily nut edible; oil used locally for cosmetics; potential for development | Pelomo, 1993 |
| Canarium schweinfurthii
tropical Africa |
African elemi; incense or bush candle tree | oily nut edible, marketed locally; oily pericarp eaten raw, seeds cooked and eaten, seed oil substitute for shea butter from Vitellaria paradoxa; stained timber used as mahogany substitute; oleo-gum exudate source of incense | Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Canarium sylvestre
Ambon |
oily "pili" nuts edible | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Canarium vrieseanum
Indonesia, Philippines |
solo | tree; seeds edible; resin burnt as an illuminant; tough wood used in construction | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Canarium vulgare Moluccas; cultivated | Chinese olives, Java almond, wild almond | oily "pili" nuts eaten in Sri Lanka as a dessert nut, made into bread in the Celebes; fresh seed oil mixed with food, also used for lamps; grown as a shade tree and in plantations; | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977 |
| Santira trimera
West Africa |
fruits smelling of turpentine, edible, marketed locally; oily seeds edible | Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985 |
CAPPARACEAE; fruit often a berry, rarely a
nut or drupe
| Boscia angustifolia
tropical Africa to Saudi Arabia |
kursan | evergreen tree; berries bitter, edible, cooked seeds eaten; leaves and bark used in tisanes; browsed; wood hard, used for local carpentry; variously used in local medicine | Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Boscia senegalensis
Sahel |
evergreen shrub; berries marketed locally, fruit pulp, seeds and leaves eaten after leaching for 3-4 days and cooked, regarded as famine food, roasted seeds used as coffee substitute; wood used for huts; smoky firewood | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Buchholzia coriacea
West Africa; rain forest |
musk tree | evergreen tree; fruit thick-skinned, with disagreeable odour, boiled and eaten, seeds used as condiment, aril chewed; seeds used medicinally; bark and leaves used medicinally | Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985; Peters et al., 1992 |
CARYOCARACEAE; fruit a drupe, stone separating
into 4 1-seeded pyrenes
| Caryocar amygdaliferum
Colombia |
suari nut; sawarri nut; caryocar; almendron | seeds woody; almond-flavoured kernels roasted and eaten, source of pleasant-tasting sawarri or suari fat used in cooking; fruit used for treating leprosy; fruit pulp used as fish poison | Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Prance and Freitas, 1973; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Caryocar amygdaliforme
Peru |
caryocar | almond-flavoured kernels edible | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Caryocar brasiliense
Brazil; occasionally cultivated |
pequí; piquí; piquia-oil plant | tree, drupe 2-seeded, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp woody, muricate, stewed kidney-shaped; fruit pulp eaten, mainly as a flavouring, laxative, source of an edible oil; kernels source of an edible fat; wood used for construction, fences and fuel | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Clay and Clement, 1993; Dantas de Araujo, 1995 |
| Caryocar coriaceum
N.E. Brazil |
fruit pulp oily, eaten; spiny seed shell difficult to remove, kernel oily, highly esteemed for food; fruit oil extracted and used in cooking | Prance and Freitas, 1973; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Caryocar glabrum
N.E. South America; cultivated |
almendro; piquia-rana | kernels eaten fresh, boiled or roasted by natives; timber used for shipbuilding; epicarp used as fish poison; inner bark used for washing hair and clothes | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Prance and Freitas, 1973; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Clay and Clement, 1993 |
| Caryocar nuciferum
Guianas; cultivated in the Caribbean, Surinam, Malaysia |
souari or swarri nut; butternut | large tree; fruit globose, soft wooded capsules ca. 15 cm in diameter; pulp yellow, edible; 2-5 pyrenes kidney-shaped, up to 5 cm long with very hard, woody shell up to 1 cm thick, hard to crack; seeds white, almond flavoured, eaten raw or roasted, source of pleasant-tasting fat. Nuts occasionally marketed in Europe, used for billiard balls; timber for shipbuilding | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Prance and Freitas, 1973; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Clay and Clement, 1993; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Caryocar villosum
N.E. South America, Atlantic Brazil to French Guiana |
amêndoa de espinho; arbre à beurre; bats sauari; pekea; pequiá; piquiá | rainforest; kernel, seed pulp and cotyledons edible, kernel and surrounding tissue source of oil; timber for heavy construction and shipbuilding; introduced into Malaysia but plantations low yielding. Potential for development of fruit and oil | Howes, 1948; Prance and Freitas, 1973; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Clay and Clement, 1993; Prance, 1994 |
CHRYSOBALANACEAE; fruit a 1-seeded drupe
| Chrysobalanus icaco
tropical America and Africa; cultivated |
cocoplum; icaco | shrub or small tree; cultivated for its edible fruit; kernel delicious, fruit eaten raw, boiled or candied; seed oil used as an illuminant in West Africa; source of timber and fuel; fruit used in tanning and traditional medicine; grown as an ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Burkill, 1985; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Couepia edulis
Amazonia; occasionally cultivated |
cutia nut; castanha de cutia | large forest tree; fruit with hard, woody epicarp, very difficult to crack, ovoid; nut-like kernels, eaten raw or roasted, contains 73% oil, used for cooking and soap-making | Mabberley, 1987; FAO, 1986; Clay and Clement, 1993; Prance, 1994 |
| Couepia longipendula
Brazilian, Colombia and Peruvian Amazonia; formerly cultivated around Manaus, some experimental plantations |
pendula nut; castanha de galinha; castanha pêndula | forest tree, bushy tree in open under cultivation; drupe 4-6 cm long, epicarp thin, mesocarp fibrous, woody; nut 3-5 cm long, sweet, eaten raw or roasted; edible seed oil semi-drying, easily rancifies, used as an illuminant; seed cake edible. Wood heavy, difficult to work, used in civil and naval construction. Excellent potential oil plant. | Clay and Clement. 1993; Prance, 1994 |
| Parinari campestris
Trinidad, Guyana to N. Brazil |
drupe small, kernel edible | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Parinari curatellifolia
tropical Africa |
mbula; mupunda | evergreen tree; drupe 3-4 cm long, eaten raw, source of a fermented beverage, oily kernel eaten raw, used as an almond substitute or pounded in soup; drying seed oil used in making varnish or paint; timber for railway sleepers, mine props, fuelwood | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982, 1983; Burkill, 1985; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Parinari excelsa
tropical Africa |
rough skinned or grey plum | evergreen tree; drupes marketed locally, insipid pulp eaten raw or fermented, oily kernels eaten raw | Hedrick, 1972; FAO, 1983; Burkill, 1985; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Parinari montana
Guyana, N. Brazil |
drupe large, fibrous, with thick, acrid rind, kernel sweet, edible | Hedrick, 1982 |
COMBRETACEAE; fruit usually indehiscent, 1-seeded,
drupaceous
| Terminalia bellerica
Indo-Malesia; cultivated |
myrobalm | kernels eaten, possibly toxic or narcotic; seed source of tannin and black dye; timber good, source of firewood and charcoal; fruit source of commercial myrobalm, used for tanning, source of a black dye | Exell, 1954; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Terminalia bentzoë
Mascarine Islands |
false benzoin | kernels eaten | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1972 |
| Terminalia catappa
Peninsular Malaysia; widely planted in tropics |
Barbados, Indian, Malabar or tropical almond | kernel enclosed in fibrous flesh and difficult to open, limiting its commercial exploitation; kernels eaten raw or roasted, delicious, source of Indian almond oil; oil cake fed to pigs; timber used for general construction; bark for tanning; grown as shade tree and ornamental; oil, leaves and bark medicinal | Howes, 1948; Coode, 1969; Hedrick, 1972; Thaman, 1976; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Morton, 1985; Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989 |
| Terminalia chebula
India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar |
myrobalan | fruit difficult to open, kernel edible; dried fruit for tanning | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Terminalia copelandii
East Indies, Philippines |
kernels edible; source of timber | Exell, 1954 | |
| Terminalia glabrata
Pacific Islands |
kernels eaten, almond flavoured | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Terminalia impediens
New Guinea |
kernels edible | Coode, 1969 | |
| Terminalia kaernbachii
Papuasia; cultivated |
okari nut | tree; kernels excellent, one of the best-flavoured, tropical nuts and a favourite article of diet among the natives; wood used for furniture | Exell, 1964; Coode, 1969; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Terminalia latifolia
Caribbean |
kernels eaten, almond flavoured | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Terminalia litoralis
Fiji, Tonga |
kernels edible, sometimes eaten by children; useful timber | Smith, 1971; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Terminalia microcarpa
Philippines |
kalumpit | fruit 3 cm in diameter; fleshy, acidic kernels eaten raw or boiled; timber for general construction, ship planking, furniture and cabinet making | FAO, 1984 |
| Terminalia nitens
Philippines |
sakat | fruit oval, 3 cm long; raw kernel eaten; timber for construction and ship planking | FAO, 1984 |
| Terminalia pamea
Guyana; cultivated |
kernels eaten, almond flavoured | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Terminalia platyphylla
N. Australia |
wild plum | kernels eaten | Smith, 1971; Hedrick, 1972 |
COMPOSITAE; fruit usually a cypsela, usually
with persistent pappus, rarely a drupe
| Helianthus annuus
North America; widely cultivated |
sunflower | seeds eaten as a dessert nut and health food, boiled or roasted, ground to a flour or in soup; source of a commercial seed oil used in cooking and margarine; stem a flax substitute; oilcake and leaves used as fodder; cultivated as an ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Purseglove, 1985; Mabberley, 1987 |
CORYLACEAE; fruit a nut
| Corylus americana
E. North America; cultivated |
American filbert or hazelnut | nuts with edible seeds,well flavoured but smaller and thicker shelled than C. avellana; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Corylus avellana Eurasia, cultivated | filbert, hazel or cob nut | shrub bearing nuts with edible seeds, seeds marketed commercially, source of edible filbert oil; coppice poles used for hurdles, wattle and daub and firewood; basketry; hybridizes readily with A. maxima | Bobiov, 1936; Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Corylus chinensis
China |
Chinese hazelnut, Chinese filbert | Nuts with edible seeds | Howes, 1948 |
| Corylus colurna
S.E. Europe, S.W. Asia; cultivated |
Turkish or Indian hazelnut, Turkish filbert, | tree bearing hard-shelled nuts with edible seeds, nuts marketed commercially as cobnuts, kernels sometimes processed for oil; wood used for furniture and turnery, formerly used for spinning wheels | Bobiov, 1936; Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1987; Rathore, 1993 |
| Corylus cornuta
N.E. North America |
beaked filbert; beaked hazel | nuts with well-flavoured, edible seeds; more cold hardy than C. americana | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 19982 |
| Corylus ferox
Himalayan region |
Himalayan hazelnut, curri | nuts small, thick shelled with edible seeds but bristly involucre limits its commercial exploitation for food | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972 |
| Corylus heterophylla
E. Mongolia, Manchuria, N. China; cultivated Japan |
Siberian hazelnut | nuts with edible seeds, marketed commercially | Bobiov, 1936 |
| Corylus maxima
S.E. Europe; cultivated |
giant filbert, Lambert's or Lombardy filbert, | shrub or small tree bearing nuts with edible seed; seed oil for cooking, confectionery, especially nut-chocolate, formerly used for paint, soap, etc.; charcoal used for gunpowder; hybridizes readily with A. avellana | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Corylus sieboldiana
(including var. mandshsurica)
China, Japan |
Japanese hazel | nuts edible but bristly involucre limits its commercial exploitation for food | Bobiov, 1936 |
| Corylus tibetica
China |
Tibetan hazelnut, Tibetan filbert | nuts with edible seeds but bristly involucre limits its commercial exploitation for food | Howes, 1948; Roecklein and Ping Sun Leun, 1987 |
CORYNOCARPACEAE ; fruit a drupe
| Corynocarpus laevigata New Zealand | karaka nut, New Zealand laurel | tree, roasted seeds staple food of the Maoris, new seeds toxic unless steamed for a day and soaked; fleshy pulp eaten raw although embryo considered toxic unless soaked in salt water | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
CUCURBITACEAE; fruit a berry (pepo if hard-walled),
less often a capsule, rarely samaroid
| Acanthosicyos horrida
Namib desert |
nara; narram; narra melon; butter nut | spiny shrub; gourd pulp and seeds eaten by Hottentots; seeds oily, marketed in Cape Town as almond substitute | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Arnold et al., 1985; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Citrullus lanatus
tropical Africa and Asia; cultivated |
watermelon | seeds eaten raw or roasted as a dessert nut; raw pulp also eaten, seed oil used for cooking, soap and as an illuminant; seedcake fed to livestock; also used as a masticatory and in local medicine | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove,
1987;
Peters et al., 1992 |
| Cucurbita maxima
Central and South America; cultivated |
pumpkin; winter squash | annual herb; flesh of mature fruits fine-textured, used as a table vegetable, in pies and jams; seeds eaten as a dessert nut | Rosengarten, 1984; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Cucurbita mixta
Central America; cultivated |
pumpkin; winter squash; cushaw | annual herb; seeds eaten as a dessert nut, flesh stringy | Rosengarten, 1984; Purseglove, 1985 |
| Cucurbita moschata
Central America; cultivated |
pumpkin, winter squash | annual herb; flesh of mature fruits fine-textured, used as a table vegetable, in pies and jams; seeds eaten as a dessert nut | Rosengarten, 1984; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Cucurbita pepo
Central America; cultivated |
pumpkin; summer squash; vegetable marrow | annual herb; seeds eaten raw, roasted or fried as a dessert nut or in food; baked pulpy flesh eaten in pies; pulp fed to livestock; some cultivars grown as an ornamental; used as a vermifuge | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Telfairia pedata
E. Africa; cultivated |
oyster nut; African pumpkin; Zanzibar oil vine | dioecious, woody stemmed,
climbing vine; gourd large, <15 kg, deeply ridged, seeds discoid, 3-4
x 1.5 cm, up to 140, enveloped in fibrous, bitter husk; seeds washed, sundried
and dehusked; kernel eaten raw or roasted and in cooking, Brazil nut flavour,
seed oil used in cosmetics, soap- and candle-making; the bitter husk limits
its commercial exploitation as an oilseed
kernel ca. 6% fat, 27% protein, rich in edible oil |
Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992; Macrae et al., 1993 |
DIPTEROCARPACEAE; fruits, dry, indehiscent,
1-seeded with woody pericarp
| Anisoptera thurifera
Philippines |
palosapis | deciduous forest tree; fruit 2-15 mm in diameter; seeds eaten raw or roasted | FAO, 1984 |
| Shorea sp.
Malaysia, Borneo, New Guinea |
Borneo illipe nut | emergent rainforest tree; kernels commercial source of speciality fats (cocoa butter equivalents) used as cocoa butter substitute in chocolate formulations also in cosmetics, formerly important for soap and candles; valuable timber tree | Blicher-Mathiesen,
1994; Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; |
| Vateria indica
S. India |
dammar | seeds used for making a bread; seed fat - "Malabar fat" or "dhupa fat" used for candles, etc.; resin - "white dammar" or "piney varnish" formerly important | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
ELAEOCARPACEAE; fruit a capsule or drupe
| Elaeocarpus bancroftii
Australia |
karanda nut; Johnstone River almond; karanda quandong | nut edible, excellent flavour, equalling that of Macadamia; virtually unknown in cultivation, CSIRO interested in developing; timber | Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
EUPHORBIACEAE; fruit a 3-lobed capsule
| Aleurites moluccana
S.E. Asia; widely cultivated in the tropics |
candle-nut; candleberry;
balucanat; Indian or Otaheite walnut |
fruit fleshy; nut 1, globose, ca. 3 cm in diameter, shell harsh, thick, kernel white, oily, ca. 5 g; kernels eaten when thoroughly dry or after roasting to destroy mild toxins, used in curries; source of the edible "China wood oil", "candle-nut oil", "lumbang oil", "walnut-oil" or "artist's oil", used in soaps, paints and quick-drying varnishes and as an illuminant; oily seeds strung together serve as candles, hence vernacular name; cultivated as an ornamental; wood not durable, used for fuel and matches | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989; Lazarides and Hince, 1993; Macrae et al., 1993; Burkill, 1994 |
| Caryodendron amazonicum
NW Brazil, Colombia, Peru |
Possibly cospecific with C. orinocense; uses as for C. orinocense | Reckin, 1983; Clement and Villachica, 1994 | |
| Caryodendron orinocense
Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela; small plantations in Colombia and Ecuador |
inchi; tacay or taccy nut; orinoco nut | kernel surrounded by thin shell, easily broken with fingers; roasted seeds eaten, flavour like Corylus avellana (hazel); source of edible oil. | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Reckin, 1983; Mabberley, 1987; Clement and Villachica, 1994 |
| Cnidoscolus oligandrus
Brazil |
seeds with 40-50% oil, eaten in times of drought | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Elateriospermum tapos
S. Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia |
tapos | seeds large, oily, eaten after boiling to remove HCN | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Manniophytom fulvum
Tropical Africa |
gasso nut | seed kernel boiled and eaten, marketed locally; seed contains 50% oil, source of a drying oil formerly considered for paint manufacture; liane with fibres used for ropes and nets | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Omphalea diandra
Caribbean |
cobnut | seeds edible, embryo deleterious and requires removal | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Omphalea megacarpa
Caribbean |
Russell river nut | large nuts eaten raw | Menninger, 1977 |
| Omphalea triandra
tropical America |
Jamaican cob nut | seeds eaten raw or roasted after removal of deleterious embryo, source of a sweet, fine-flavoured oil | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Phyllanthus emblica
tropical Asia; cultivated |
emblic; ambal | seeds edible, made into sweetmeats; dried fruit provides "emblic myrobalan", used in local medicine and source of tanbark and dyes | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberely, 1987 |
| Pimelodendron amboinicum
Moluccas |
seeds edible; bark purgative; milky latex used as a varnish | Menninger, 1977; Mabberely, 1987 | |
| Plukenetia conophora
Sierra Leone to Zaire |
owusa nut | liane cultivated for its oilseeds for use in cooking; kernels eaten raw | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberely, 1987 |
| Ricinodendron heudelotii
tropical Africa |
erimado | edible nuts and oilseeds; trade timber | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Schinziophyton rautanenii
S. Angola and N. Namibia eastwards to Tanzania and N. Mozambique |
manketti nut | Raw pulp and seed kernel eaten, a staple diet of the Kalahai bushmen; manketti nut oil used in food, varnishes, etc. timber used as a balsa Ochroma lagopus, substitute with possible use for paper-making | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Tetracarpidium conophorum
West Africa; cultivated |
conophor; awusa nut | lianne; seed eaten raw or roasted, marketed locally; fruit, leaves and young shoots edible; source of a drying oil | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al. 1992 |
FAGACEAE; fruit a nut
| Castanea crenata
Japan; cultivated |
Japanese chestnut | nuts variable in size, some 5 cm in diameter, edible but bitter due to tannin content; fed to pigs in Japan; timber used for sleepers, furniture, cabinet work, shipbuilding; cultivated, resistant to chestnut blight, grown as an ornamental | Camus, 1929; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Castanea dentata
E. North America |
American or North American chestnut; sweet chestnut | nuts smaller and sweeter than C. sativa; best trees almost extinct due to chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica and commercial market ruined; marketed and sold roasted in towns; eaten by native Americans, also leaf tea used to treat whooping cough, as sedative and tonic, bark for dysentery; important timber for furniture, fencing, pulp and source of tannin | Camus, 1929; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Castanea henryi
China coast |
nuts excellent, small, edible; timber for building | Camus, 1929; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Castanea mollisima
N.W. China; cultivated China, introduced North America |
Chinese chestnut | nuts edible, sweeter than C. sativa but less sweet than C. dentata, resistant to chestnut blight; cultivated and sold in local markets; source of timber and fuel | Camus, 1929; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984 |
| Castanea ozarkensis
central USA; limestone |
ozak chinquapin | nuts small, edible | Krochmal, 19982 |
| Castanea pumila
E. North America; cultivated |
Virginia chestnut; chinquapin; Allegheny chinquapin | evergreen tree; nuts small, sweet, very palatable but difficult to shell, eaten by local Americans, formerly sold locally; nuts used to fatten pigs; also strung to make necklaces; root astringent, used as tonic and to treat fevers; timber for railway sleepers | Camus, 1929; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Castanea sativa
Mediterranean to Caucasus; cultivated in mild temperate Europe and subtropical regions |
Spanish or sweet chestnut | tree; nuts starchy, sold roasted, flour used in cooking, especially in Italy, candied (marrons glacés); timber used for sleepers, coppice timber for fencing, gates, walking sticks, cellulose; bark used in tanning; cultivated as ornamental and for erosion control | Camus, 1929; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Castanea seguinii
E. and central China |
nuts small, edible, used for flour | Camus,1929; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Castanopsis acuminatissima
Myanmar |
gon | nuts eaten raw or cooked | Menninger, 1977 |
| Castanopsis argentea
Indo-Malesia |
seeds edible; bark source of dye; timber | Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Castanopsis argyrophylla
India |
nuts edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Castanopsis boisii
N. Vietnam |
nuts edible, marketed locally | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Castanopsis chinensis
China |
nuts edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Castanopsis chrysophylla
S.W. USA |
golden-leaved chestnut; golden or giant chinquapin | tree evergreen; nuts ripen in second year, 8-12 mm long, sweet, eaten by native Americans; wood used for agricultural implements | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Castanopsis costata
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra; lowland to submontane forest |
berangan duri | tree; nuts eaten parched, roasted or boiled, used in confectionery; wood hard, difficult to work; bark tannin source | Howes, 1948; Soepadmo, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Castanopsis cuspidatus
Korea, S. China |
acorns small, sweet, eaten boiled or roasted; planted in Japan as an ornamental; leaves formerly used as rice bowls | Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 | |
| Castanopsis hysteris
E. Himalayas |
nuts eaten; timber for construction, , sleepers, cheap furniture, tools, etc. tannin potential; coppices well | Howes, 1948; CSIR, 1992 | |
| Castanopsis indica
tropical Himalayas |
nuts eaten; timber for construction, panelling, tools, fuel; browsed | Howes, 1948; CSIR, 1992 | |
| Castanopsis inermis
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra; cultivated |
berangan | nuts eaten boiled, parched or roasted, used in confectionery, marketed in Sumatra; wood hard, difficult to work; bark tannin source | Camus, 1929; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Castanopsis javanica
Malesia; forests |
cultivated in Java for its edible nuts; post timber; bark used for rice baskets | Howes, 1948; Soepadmo, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Castanopsis lucida Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo | berangan papan | nuts eaten raw, boiled or roasted, used in confectionery; wood hard, difficult to work; bark tannin source | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Castanopsis malaccensis
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra |
berangan gajah | nuts eaten raw, boiled or roasted, used in confectionery, causes diarrhoea if eaten to excess; wood hard, difficult to work; bark tannin source | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Castanopsis megacarpa
Malaysia |
nuts bitter, eaten | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Castanopsis philipensis
Philippines |
nuts eaten; timber | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Castanopsis sclerophylla
E. and central China |
nuts eaten locally | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Castanopsis sempervirens
California |
bush or Dudley sierra chinquapin | nuts eaten by native Americans, good roasted and served with butter and salt | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Castanopsis tibetana
China, Tibet |
nuts eaten locally | Camus, 1929; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Castanopsis tribuloides
subtropical Himalayas |
evergreen tree; nuts roasted and eaten; timber durable, used for planks, shingles and fuel | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; CSIR, 1992 | |
| Castanopsis wallichii
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia; forest |
berangan duri | tree; nuts small, rind thick and difficult to open, eaten parched, roasted or boiled, used in confectionery; wood hard, difficult to work; bark tannin source | Howes, 1948; Soepadma, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Fagus grandifolia
E. North America |
American, Carolina, red, grey or white beech | nuts shaken from tree after frost has opened husks or raked from the ground; eaten roasted, considered delicious, also as coffee substitute; leaves eaten by some native Americans; leaf infusions used to treat burns, scalds and frost bite; leaves and bark source of tannin and dyes; timber source; cultivated as ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987 |
| Fagus sylvatica
Europe; cultivated |
European beech | nuts eaten fresh, dried or roasted, in cooking or as coffee substitute, oil source of salad oil and butter substitute, also as an illuminant; timber; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Lithocarpus cornea
S. China |
evergreen tree; ground acorns eaten, marketed locally; wood used for poles, carpentry, utensils, wagons, | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984 | |
| Lithocarpus densiflorus
Asia, introduced W. USA |
tanoak; tanbark oak | acorns mature end of second season; acorns leached in hot water to remove tannins, dried, ground and eaten by native Americans | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Lithocarpus philippinensis
Philippines |
ulayan | tree; acorns eaten roasted or boiled, also used in candies | FAO, 1984 |
| Nothofagus procera
Chile |
rauli roble | deciduous tree; acorns edible; timber used for furniture | Menninger, 1977; Hoffmann, 1978; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus aegilops
subsp. persica Iran, Iraq |
manna oak | deciduous tree; acorns used for making bread | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus agrifolia
S.W. North America |
coast live or Californian field oak | evergreen tree; acorns eaten raw or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Saunders, 1976; Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus alba
E. North America |
white or Quebec oak | deciduous tree; acorns sweet, eaten dried, boiled or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking or used as coffee substitute; important source of construction timber and fuel; basketry | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus coccifera
Mediterranean |
kermes oak | evergreen shrub, acorns ripening in second year, formerly eaten | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; |
| Quercus emoryi
S. Arizona, New Mexico |
Emory or blackjack oak; bellota | evergreen tree; acorns sweet and palatable, eaten by native Americans and Mexicans; timber source; good watershed protection; browsed | Howes, 1948; Kearney and
Peebles, 1951;
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; USDA, 1988 |
| Quercus frainetto
Balkans |
Hungarian oak | tree; ground acorns used as a coffee substitute; cultivated as an ornamental | Davison, 1994 |
| Quercus gambelii
W. North America |
Gambel or shin oak | deciduous tree; ground acorns edible, used as flour; browsed by game and livestock | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Mabberley, 1987; USDA, 1988 |
| Quercus garryana
British Columbia to California |
Garry, western or Oregon white oak | tree; acorns highly palatable, eaten by native Americans; important timber tree; browsed by cattle and sheep | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; USDA, 1988 |
| Quercus glabra
Japan |
acorns eaten locally | Camus, 1936-74; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Rosengarten, 1984 | |
| Quercus glauca
Himalayas |
acorns eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Quercus grisea
S.W. North America |
grey, evergreen, live or Mexican blue oak | tree or shrub; acorns eaten by native Americans | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Quercus ilex
subsp. ilex Mediterranean excluding the Iberian Peninsula |
holm oak, holly oak; cultivated | evergreen tree; acorns occasionally eaten; oak timber used for furniture; galls used for tanning; also planted as an ornamental | Kuzeneva, 1936; Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Camus, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| subsp. rotundifolia
Spain, Portugal, N. Africa |
evergreen tree, cultivated in Spain and Portugal for its acorns, which are roasted and eaten, also source of oil | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Quercus kelloggii
California |
California black or Kellogg oak | deciduous tree; acorns used by Indians for food; browsed by game and livestock; wood used for fuel | Saunders, 1976; Menninger,
1977;
USDA, 1988 |
| Quercus libani
Middle East |
Lebanon oak | deciduous tree; acorns roasted and eaten | Townsend and Guest, 1980 |
| Quercus lobata
California |
California or valley white oak | massive tree; ground acorns formerly a favourite food of native Americans; important timber tree | Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Saunders, 1976; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; USDA, 1988 |
| Quercus macrocarpa
North America |
bur oak | acorns large, eaten raw or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking | Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus macrolepis
S. Balkan, Aegean |
camata, camatina or valonia oak | evergreen tree; ripe acorns eaten boiled or raw; cups - "valonia" and unripe fruits - "carnatas" or "carnatina" used for tanning | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus marilandica
E. USA |
black jack oak | acorns eaten | Howes, 1948 |
| Quercus nigra
S.E. USA |
black jack or possum oak | tree; acorns formerly used by Indians for food; wood for fuel | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 |
| Quercus oblongifolia
S.W. USA |
evergreen or live oak | tree or shrub; acorns eaten by native Americans | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Quercus petraea
Europe |
sessile oak | acorns eaten | Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus phellos
N.E. North America |
willow oak | acorns eaten | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus prinus
S. USA |
basket, chestnut, chinquapin or cow oak | deciduous tree; acorns sweet, 4 cm long, eaten raw or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking; acorns eaten by livestock; important source of tanbark; timber | Camus, 1936-74; Hedrick, 1972; Saunders, 1976; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus robur
Europe, Mediterranean |
English, French, Scandinavian, Polish, black or truffle oak | deciduous tree; acorns bitter, used as famine food, ground acorns used as coffee substitute; acorns eaten by pigs; sweet manna-like exudate used as sweetener; important timber tree; wood source of acetic acid; bark and galls source of tannin; galls source of acetic acid | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus stellata
E. USA |
iron or post oak | tree or shrub; acorns eaten raw or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking; wood for charcoal | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus suber
S. Europe |
cork oak | evergreen tree; acorns sometimes eaten roasted; thick bark source of commercial cork | Hedrick, 1972;
Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Quercus undulata
California |
Rocky Mountain scrub or wavyleaf oak | low shrub; acorns sweet, eaten by native Americans; wood used for fuel; bark used for tanning | Camus, 1936-54; Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977 |
| Quercus virginiana
E. North America |
live oak | acorns eaten raw or roasted by native Americans, also ground for baking, also source of sweet cooking oil; timber formerly important for ship-building; bark used for tanning | Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
GUTTIFERAE; fruit a drupe, berry or septicidal
capsule
| Allanblackia floribunda
West Africa |
tallow tree; kisidwe | seeds edible, source of oils, used as a butter substitute, suitable for soap making; seedcake too bitter cattle food | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Allanblackia stuhlmannii
Tanzania |
evergreen tree; seeds yield an edible fat used in cooking, as an illuminant and liniment. Seeds marketed; potential plantation crop | FAO, 1983; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Allanblackia ulugurensis
Tanzania |
evergreen tree; seeds yield an edible fat used in cooking and as an illuminant; sap produces a yellow dye. Seeds exported; potential plantation crop | FAO, 1983; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Garcinia conrauana
Cameroon |
seeds edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Garcinia cowa
Assam, Myanmar |
aril and pericarp good flavour | Mabberley, 1977 | |
| Garcinia indica
tropical Asia |
cocum; kokum | fruit pulp edible, seeds source of edible fat - "kokum" or "Goa butter", pericarp used to flavour curries | Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Garcinia kola
West Africa |
bitter or false kola | pulp eaten raw, rind used in curries, seeds eaten raw, chewed with a bitter, astringent and resinous taste; root a chewstick | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Garcinia lateriflora
Philippines |
seeds edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Garcinia mangostana
Malesia; cultivated, not known in the wild |
mangosteen | evergreen tree; arils
delicious, one of the best tropical fruit; seeds eaten raw or in various
preparations; rind used for tanning and source of black dye; wood used
for cabinet work and construction
Seeds contain 45% fat |
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel,1991 |
| Garcinia planchonii
Viet Nam, N. Laos |
seeds edible, acidic pulp edible, sun dried for storage | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Mesua ferrea
Indo-Malesia |
ironwood | fruit with a rind like that of a chestnut, resembles a chestnut in size, shape substance and taste; timber very hard, formerly used for lances; sacred tree in India; flowers used medicinally, cosmetically and to scent the stuffing of pillows | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Pentadesma butyracea
West Africa |
butter, candle or tallow tree; black mango | young seeds eaten, old seeds source of "Sierra Leone, Kanga or lamy butter", used for cooking, soap, margarine and candles | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
HIPPOCASTANACEAE; fruit a capsule
| Aesculus californica
California |
Californian buckeye | deciduous tree or shrub; seeds boiled or roasted and leached, toxic if eaten raw, formerly much eaten by Californian native Americans | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Saunders, 1976; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Aesculus hippocastanum
Balkans to Himalayas |
horse-chestnut | deciduous tree; seeds bitter and inedible unless leached, may be used as coffee substitute; horse medicine; leaves and husks yield a yellow dye; timber of limited use; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Aesculus indica
Himalayas |
Indian horse-chestnut | deciduous tree; seeds edible, eaten by hill tribes as famine food; seed oil used externally for rheumatic complaints; fruits given to horses for colic; browse lopped for livestock; wood used to building, packing cases, troughs, etc. | Howes, 1948; Mabberley, 1987; Rathore, 1993 |
| Aesculus octandra
S.E. USA |
yellow, big or sweet buckeye | starchy seeds roasted and leached for several days to remove toxic aesculin before eaten by native Americans - a nutritious food | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Aesculus parviflora
S. USA |
buckeye | fruit eaten boiled or roasted | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Aesculus pavia
S.E. USA |
little, red or scarlet buckeye; firecracker plant | starch extracted from seeds; ground seeds toxic to fish and possibly livestock; seeds used to relieve headache | Krochmal, 1982 |
IRVINGIACEAE; fruit a capsule, samara, rarely
a berry or drupe, often a schizocarp of dry and sometimes samaroid or fleshy
mericarps
| Irvingia gabonensis | dika nut; bread tree; wild mango | large tree; drupe 5-6 cm long; pulp eaten, seed ground cooked to make dika bread, also source of an edible oil, dika butter, formerly considered as a substitute for cocoa butter; seed oil used for making soap | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
JUGLANDACEAE; fruit a nut or drupe-like
| Carya alba
North America |
shagbark or shellbark hickory | an important food of native Americans, also marketed and exported; timber for wagons, agricultural implements and tool handles; fuel | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Carya aquatica
S.E. USA |
water or swamp hickory, bitter or wild pecan | nuts small, astringent, sometimes eaten; source of a brown dye | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982 |
| Carya carolinae-
septentrionalis S.E. USA |
Caroline hickory, southern shagbark hickory | nuts sweet, edible | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Carya cathayensis
E. China |
Chinese hickory; mountain walnut | nuts edible, used in sweetmeats; wood used for tool handles | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984 |
| Carya cordiformis
E. North America, S. Appalachians |
bitternut, swamp hickory | nuts bitter, rarely eaten by native Americans; bark formerly used in making chair seats; wood used for yokes and hoops | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Carya glabra
E. North America |
broom, hognut, oval, redheart, red or pignut hickory | nuts variable, hard and tough, kernel sometimes sweetish but usually astringent, eaten by native Americans; timber used for wagons, agricultural implements and tool handles; fuel | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Carya illinoinensis
S. USA; widely cultivated |
pecan; Illinois nut, sof-shelled hickery | common dessert nut, especially thin-shelled ones; used like hazelnuts (Corylus spp.) or walnuts (Juglans sp.) in food; seed oil formerly used by native Americans to season food, now used in cosmetics, etc.; timber for veneer, furniture, flooring and panelling; grown as ornamental; first cultivar selected in 1846, now over 500 names | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Carya laciniosa
central North America; cultivated |
big, western, botton shellbark or king nut hickory | nuts thick shelled, considered to be of fine quality, marketed; nuts eaten by native Americans, source of the fermented drink "powcohiccorir"; wood used for agricultural implements and tool handles; fuel | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Carya myristiciformis
S.E. USA |
numeg or bitter water hickory | nuts with very thick shell, sometimes eaten by native Americans | Howes, 1948; Menninger 1977; Krochmal, 1982 |
| Carya ovalis
North America |
smaller loose bark hickory | nuts small, sometimes eaten by native Americans | Howes, 1948; Krochmal, 1982 |
| Carya ovata
E. North America; cultivated |
shagbark, scalybark, white, red heart or upland hickory | nuts edible, marketed - commercial hickory nuts; wood used for wagons, axe handles, basketry and fuel | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Carya pallida
S.E. USA |
sand, pale or pale leaf hickory | nuts with thick, hard shell, eaten by native Americans | Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982 |
| Carya texana
var. villosa S-central USA |
Texas, Buckley's or black hickory | small nuts often produced from young plants, sometimes eaten | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977 |
| Carya tomentosa
E. North America |
mockernut; white hickory | nut with very hard, thick shell; kernel sweet and in some varieties as large as that of shellbark but difficult to extract. A variety with prominent angles known as "square nut". | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Carya tonkinensis
N.E. India, Viet Nam, S. China |
may-chau | kernels source of edible oil, also used as illuminant | Howes, 1948 |
| Juglans ailanthifolia
var. cordiformis China, Japan; cultivated |
cordate, Japanese or Siebold walnut; heatnut | nuts small, edible; husk used as piscicide; wood used for gunstocks, cabinet work; bark exocarp used in dyeing; hardy, cultivated for nuts in Canada; grown as an ornamental; rootstock for cultivars of J. regia | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Hedrick, 1972; Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Juglans australia
Argentina, S. Bolivia |
Argentine walnut | nut small with thick shell, edible; wood prized, especially for making guitars | National Research Council, 1989 |
| Juglans baccata
Caribbean |
walnut | nuts edible, rich in starch, source of oil | Hedrick, 1972 |
| Juglans boliviana
N. Bolivia, S. and Central Peru; mountains |
Bolivian black walnut | nuts excellent, good quality; grows well in Costa Rica | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; National Research Council, 1989 |
| Juglans californica
S. California |
black walnut | fruit with thick husk, kernels eaten | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Juglans cathayensis
central China |
kernels eaten locally; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Juglans cinerea
E. North America; cultivated |
butternut; lemon nut; oil nut; white walnut | kernels edible, with strong oily taste, used to thicken pottage, seed oil used for seasoning, immature kernels pickled; sap source of butternut sugar; timber for furniture and interior finishing; nuts laxative, used to treat intermittent fever, tape worm and fungal infection; inner root bark mildly cathartic; green husks yield yellow to orange dye; cultivated for shade | Howes, 1948; Uphof. 1968;
Hedrick, 1972;
Usher, 1974; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; |
| Juglans duclouxiana
Asian mountains; cultivated in China |
nuts edible | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Juglans hindsii
California |
California black walnut, Hind's walnut | nuts edible, harvested from the wild; grown in California as a street tree; rootstock used for J. regia | Howes, 1948; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984 |
| Juglans kamaonia
W. Himalayas |
nuts edible | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 | |
| Juglans major
S.W. North America |
Arizona, Arizona black or little walnut; nogal sylvestro | nuts small, eaten by native Americans; leaves astringent | Howes, 1948; Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984 |
| Juglans mandshurica
N. China |
Manchurian walnut | nuts edible; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948 |
| Juglans microcarpa
W. North America; sometimes cultivated |
Texas, Texas black, little or river walnut | nuts small, sweet, edible | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Krochmal 1982; Rosengarten, 1984 |
| Juglans neotropica
W. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador; highlands |
Ecuador walnut | semievergreen; nuts thick-shelled, edible, marketed locally, used in sweetmeats; wood strong, used in furniture; occasionally cultivated | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974; Rosengarten, 1984; National Research Council, 1989 |
| Juglans nigra
E. North America; cultivated |
black, American or eastern black walnut | nuts thick-shelled, kernels sweet, edible, used in confectionery; timber prized for cabinet making, furniture, gunstocks, etc.; rootstock for cultivars of J. regia; husk for treating intestinal worms, syphilis, ulcers, fruit juice laxative; nuts and bark yield brown, green or blue dye | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Juglans regia
S.E. Europe to W. Asia; cultivated |
English or Persian walnut | walnuts of commerce; timber excellent cabinet wood, furniture, gunstocks, veneer; seed oil used in cooking, paints and soap; sap source of sugar; dye from husks as floor stain; cultivated as ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Juglans venezuelensis
N. Venezuela; coastal mountains |
Venezuelan walnut | nuts edible, now rare | National Research Council, 1989 |
| Pterocarya fraxinifolia
W. Asia; cultivated |
Caucasian wingnut | nut edible; wood used for matches and clogs; cultivated as ornamental | Uphof, 1968; Hedrick,
1972;
Usher, 1974; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Pterocarya rhoifolia
Japan |
Japanese wingnut | nut edible; wood used for chopsticks, clogs and matches | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 |
| Pterocarya stenoptera
China; cultivated |
wingnut | nut edible; bark medicinal | Uphof, 1968; Usher, 1974 |
LAURACEAE; fruit a 1-seeded berry or drupe,
rarely dry and indehiscent
| Beilschmiedia bancroftii
Queensland |
canary ash; yellow walnut;
wanga |
ground kernels eaten by Aborigines; good timber | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Lazarides et al., 1993 |
| Beilschmiedia mannii
West Africa |
seed eaten | Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Cryptocarya alba
Chile |
peumo | oily seed kernels cooked and eaten in times of scarcity; bark source of tannin; wood for firewood and charcoal | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Hoffman, 1978 |
| Cryptocarya latifolia
South Africa |
ntonga nuts | fruit used locally for their oil; fatty kernels used by Zulus for flaying leather | Howes, 1948; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Cryptocarya moschata
Brazil |
Brazilian nutmeg | tree, pungent seed used as spice; timber hard, yellowish, esteemed | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Endiandra insignis
Queensland |
Boomban | roasted, pounded and leached kernel eaten by Aborigines | Menninger, 1977 |
| Endiandra palmerstonii
Queensland |
Queensland walnut | pounded kernel eaten by Aborigines | Menninger, 1977; Lazarides et al., 1993 |
| Umbellaria californica
S.W. USA |
California laurel bay or olive; bay tree; bay laurel; Oregon, Pacific, black, white or yellow myrtle; Cocos cinnamon bush, | aromatic evergreen, drupe with 1 nut-like seed <2cm in diameter; fruit and seed eaten raw, roasted or ground to a flour and baked by native Americans; root bark used for beverage; aromatic dried leaves as flavouring; leaves used in internal and external medicines and flea control; good timber | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
LECYTHIDACEAE; fruit a capsule, drupe or berry,
seeds often nut-like
| Barringtonia asiatica
Madagascar to Queensland; introduced Caribbean |
fruits eaten as a vegetable; seeds oleaginous, toxic | Payens, 1967; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Barringtonia edulis
Fiji; semi-cultivated |
cut-nut | fruit insipid, eaten raw or cooked; seeds eaten raw, flavour of raw peanuts | Payens, 1967; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Barringtonia niedenzuana
Melanesia; semi-cultivated |
cut-nut | seeds eaten raw, flavour of raw peanuts | Payens, 1967; Menninger, 1977 |
| Barringtonia novae-hyberniae
Melanesia; semi-cultivated |
cut-nut | seeds eaten raw, flavour of raw peanuts | Menninger, 1977 |
| Barringtonia procera
New Guinea, Micronesia; planted |
nua nut | tree with ovoid drupes; seed eaten on Santa Cruz; young leaves eaten as a vegetable | Payens, 1967; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Duke, 1989 |
| Barringtonia scortechinii
Borneo |
seed used to flavour food | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Bertholletia excelsa
South America |
Brazil, Amazon or Pará nut; butternut; creamnut; | fruit a large woody capsule, seeds with hard, woody testa and oily endosperm, takes 14 months to mature; largely harvested from the wild, fruit being split open with an axe; seeds with hard woody testa, eaten as a dessert nut and in confectionary, also a source of commercial edible oil, also used in soap | Howes, 1948; Hill, 1952; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982, 1986; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; ; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Careya arborea
Sri Lanka |
patana oak; slow match tree | seeds edible; leaves used for silkworms | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Chydenanthus excelsus
New Guinea |
seeds eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Eschweilera grandiflora
Guyana |
seeds edible | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Eschweilera jarana
South America |
seeds edible; timber for sleepers | Prance and Mori, 19979 | |
| Lecythis lanceolata
South America |
seeds edible | Howes, 1948 | |
| Lecythis minor
New Granada |
seeds edible but contain toxic selenium analogue of the amino-cystathionine causing temporary loss of hair and nails and nausea when growing on soils high in selenium | Hedrick, 1972; Prance and Mori, 1979; Mabberley, 1987 | |
| Lecythis ollaria
tropical America |
pot nut | seeds edible but contain toxic selenium analogue of the amino-cystathionine causing temporary loss of hair and nails and nausea when growing on soils high in selenium | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Prance and Mori, 1979; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Lecythis usitata
South America; Amazon rain forest, cultivated |
paradise or sapucaia nut | tall tree; fruit woody,
large, dehiscent; seeds (nuts) 30-40, irregularly oblong, resembling Brazil
nuts but more rounded with thinner and softer shell, kernel white, creamy
texture and superior sweet flavour, delicious; kernels eaten raw, roasted
or in confectionary, highly nutritious, source of oil
62% fat, 20% protein |
Howes, 1948; Hill, 1952; Prance and Mori, 1979; Rosengarten, 1984; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Lecythis zabucajo
Brazil, Guyana; cultivated |
sapucaia nut | oily seeds (sapucaia nuts) c 5 cm long, edible, with delicate flavour suitable for chocolates | Howes, 1948; Hill, 1952; Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Planchonia careya
Australia |
cocky apple | fruit large, with adherent calyx, eaten by Aborigines; source of fuel, toxins, medicines and fibre | Hedrick, 19772; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
LEGUMINOSAE subfamily CAESALPINIOIDEAE; fruit
usually a dry legume (pod), usually dehiscent
| Cordeauxia edulis
central Somalia, Ogaden |
ye-eb, yeheb or yehib | seed eaten raw or boiled, potential as a dessert nut; source of a red dye; potential for development and commercial exploitation | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; National Academy of Sciences, 1979; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Lemuropisum edule
S.W. Madagascar |
tara nut | dehiscent legume with 6-12 sweet, starchy seeds which are eaten raw; shrub browsed by goats | Willing, 1989 |
| Tylosema esculentum
southern Africa |
marama or maramba bean | pod hard, 1.5-2 cm in diameter, seeds 1-6, eaten as a dessert nut, tuber also edible. Plant difficult to cultivate | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; National Academy of Sciences, 1979; Arnold et al., 1985; Peters et al., 1992 |
LEGUMINOSAE subfamily MIMOSOIDEAE; fruit usually
a dry pod
| Pithecellobium
bubalinum MalaysiaPithecellobium dulce
Central America; naturalized throughout the tropics |
Madras thorn; Manila tamarind | armed shrub or tree; seed oil edible, aril edible, pulp made into a lemonade; seed oil used for making soap, seed meal fed to livestock; bark, leaves and seeds source of tannin; browsed by livestock; source of fuelwood, grown for shade and hedges | Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |||
| Pithecellobium
jiringa
Myanmar to W. Malesia |
jering; ngapi nut | seed marketed locally, with powerful smell and flavour which disappears on cooking. Eaten raw, salted, boiled or cooked in coconut milk or oil, surfeit can cause kidney damage due to presence of crystals; reputed good for diabetes; pod source of dye | Howes, 1948; Whitmore, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |||
LEGUMINOSAE subfamily PAPILIONOIDEAE; fruit
usually a dry pod (legume) usually dehiscent
| Apios americana
North America; occasionally cultivated |
potato or wild bean, groundnut; Indian potato | climber; sweet tubers boiled or roasted, an important Indian food and potato substitute; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; National Academy of Sciences, 1979; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Arachis hypogaea
South America; cultivated throughout the tropics |
peanut, groundnut | annual herb with indehiscent fruit with 1-6 seeds, gynophore lengthening, reflexing and stiffening to bury the fruit; seeds edible raw or roasted, widely used as a dessert nut and as source of groundnut oil used in margarine | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Verdcourt, 1979; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Arachis villosulicarpa
South America |
seeds edible, locally cultivated | Rosengarten, 1984 | |
| Castanospermum australe
N.E. Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu; cultivated elsewhere |
Australian or Morton Bay chestnut | tree of coastal forests with indehiscent, fruit turgid, 2-valved, with 2-5 chestnut-like seeds; seeds (black beans) leached, roasted and eaten by Aborigines, toxic if eaten raw; decorative timber; street tree | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verdcourt, 1979; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Glycine max
E. Asia, now widely cultivated |
soya bean or soybean | annual herb bearing dehiscent, ca. 3-seeded pods containing 30-45% protein; newly germinated seeds used as "bean sprouts" in Chinese cooking; one of the world's most important legume crops, processed beans as soynuts for dessert and food industry; soya meal and protein used industrially for plastics, adhesives, waterproofing, synthetic fibre, fire-fighting foam, etc. | Rosengarten, 1984; Menninger, 1977; Verdcourt, 1979; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Inocarpus fagifer
Malesia to Pacific Islands, occasionally cultivated elsewhere |
Tahiti chestnut | medium sized forest tree with kidney shaped, indehiscent, 1-seeded fruit borne in terminal clusters; chestnut flavoured, fleshy seeds eaten raw, boiled or roasted when nearly ripe, moderately nutritious, palatable but sometimes hard to digest, known as aila or lala in Neo-melanesian, staple food for some islanders; wood used for mouldings and interior finishing seeds 80% carbohydrates (starch), 10% protein, 7% fat | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Verdcourt, 1979; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Macrotyloma geocarpum
West Africa; cultivated |
Hausa or Kersting's groundnut | annual herb with geocarpic fruit; seeds eaten; mainly cultivated in West Africa; potential for further research and development | Menninger, 1977; National Academy of Sciences, 1979; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Vigna subterranea
tropical Africa; cultivated |
Bambara groundnut | annual herb with geocarpic fruit; seed eaten green and raw or mature and cooked; widely cultivated | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; National Academy of Sciences, 1979; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al. 1992 |
MONIMIACEAE; fruit a head of drupes or nuts
| Laurelia sempervirens
Peru and Chile |
Peruvian nutmeg, tepa | aromatic seeds used as a spice | Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1987 |
MORACEAE; fruit a drupe
| Artocarpus altilis
Pacific, widely cultivated |
breadfruit; breadnut; pana de pepita | evergreen, monoecious tree; seeds (fruits from female trees) roasted or boiled and eaten, fruit pulp cooked and eaten; staple food in Polynesia, sliced fruit fermented under storage and baked; browsed by livestock; bark fibre and latex used for caulking; wood used for canoes, surfboards, crates, light construction; cultivated for windbreaks, shade and as ornamental | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Artocarpus elasticus
W. Malesia |
ripe seeds roasted and eaten, seeds source of small quantities of a solid oil; source of bark cloth | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1977; Purseglove, 1987 | |
| Artocarpus heterophyllus
Western Ghats, India; widely cultivated in the tropics |
jack or jak nut; jak fruit | large evergreen, monoecious tree, seeds (jak nuts) eaten raw, grilled or boiled, pulp eaten raw or variously preserved, young fruit pulp boiled as a vegetable, pickled or canned; browsed by livestock; good timber, bark source of tannin and yellow dye; grown as shade tree in coffee and areca plantations; various uses in local medicine | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Artocarpus integer
Myanmar, Malesia; cultivated |
champedak | evergreen, monoecious tree; fruit pulp disgusting stench, immature fruits used in soups, pulp of ripe fruits eaten; seeds eaten roasted or boiled; young leaves eaten; wood used for building, furniture and boats; bark used for cordage; latex used in preparation of lime | Menninger, 1977; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Artocarpus odoratissimus
Borneo, cultivated in the Philippines |
marang | evergreen tree; seeds eaten roasted or boiled, pulp eaten fresh, cooked as a vegetable or in cakes | Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Artocarpus ovatus
Philippines |
anubing | tree; roasted seeds eaten; timber strong and durable, used for construction | FAO, 1984; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Brosimum alicastrum
central America |
breadnut; alicastrun; snakewood | evergreen tree, seeds (bread nuts) boiled eaten in times of scarcity or roasted for a beverage; latex potable; leaves and fruit for fodder; wood for crates, tool handles and fuel; browse; various local medicinal applications | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Treculia africana
tropical Africa |
African breadfruit; mozinda | numerous small seeds embedded pulp of massive fruit; roasted, fried or boiled seeds eaten as dessert nut; seed embryo ground to meal and eaten | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
OLACACEAE; fruit usually a 1-seeded drupe or
nut
| Anacolosa frutescens
India to Philippines |
galo nut | tree; nut resembling a filbert, kernel eaten fresh or roasted, of good flavour and quality; pulp eaten fresh or boiled; potential for domestication; wood for house posts | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Coula edulis
tropical West Africa; cultivated in plantations |
Gabon nut, African walnut | tree; drup 3-4 cm long; seeds (Gabon nuts) eaten raw, cooked or fermented, marketed locally, seeds source of edible oil; timber a commercial mahogany substitute, used for construction and charcoal | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Heisteria parvifolia
West Africa |
shrub; kernels eaten | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Ongokea gore
West Africa |
tree; fruit an offensive smelling drupe; ripe flesh eaten; seed kernels little eaten; seed yields a drying oil - isano oil | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 | |
| Scorodocarpus borneensis
Malesia |
kulim | fruit edible; hard, onion-scented wood used for construction | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Strombosia grandifolia
West Africa |
kernels roasted and eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Strombosia pustulata
West Africa |
evergreen tree; seed kernel eaten as famine food | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Strombosia scheffleri
tropical Africa |
kernels eaten in small quantities in times of scarcity as they can cause vomiting | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Ximenia americana
pantropical |
tallow nut; wild, beach, hog, tallowwood or wild plum; wild olive | densely branched, spinose shrub;, usually deciduous; drupe ovoid, juicy, 1-seeded; raw or cooked pulp eaten, kernels white, palatability varies, purgative, eaten raw or roasted, seed oil used for cooking and as cosmetic; timber substitute for white sandalwood, used for fuel | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1983; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987;
Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Peters et al., 1992; Macrae et al., 1993 |
PROTEACEAE; fruit a follicle, nut, achene or
drupe
| Brabejum stellatifolium
South Africa; cultivated |
wild, Hottentots or bitter almond | kernels require leaching before eating, formerly used as a coffee substitute; grown as hedges, noteworthy as first indigenous tree to be cultivated in South Africa | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Palmer and Pitman, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Finschia carrii
W. Pacific |
kernels eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Finschia chloroxantha
Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
tree; kernels eaten, locally important food; timber for cabinet work; potential ornamental | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Finschia ferruginiflora
New Guinea |
kernels cooked and eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Finschia rufa
W.Pacific |
kernels eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Finschia sp.
W. Pacific |
nuts eaten in Vanuatu | ||
| Gevuina avellana
Chile |
Chilean wild nut; gevuina nut; Chile nut; avellano | evergreen tree, hazel-flavoured seeds eaten fresh or roasted; wood for furniture, picture frames, roof shingles, grown as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Grevillea annulifera
W. Australia |
shrub; seeds hard-shelled, kernel edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Grevillea elaeocarpifolia
Micronesia |
kernels eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Helicia cochinchinensis
Indo-China, China, Japan |
seeds edible; wood used for fuel | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 | |
| Helicia diversifolia
Queensland |
source of "helicia nuts" | Mabberley, 1987 | |
| Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia N. Australia | monkey, rose or red bopple nut | tree, seed eaten; potential as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Kermadecia leptophylla | nuts require lengthy washing and cooking before eating | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Macadamia integrifolia
Queensland; rainforest, cultivated |
macadamia (smooth, thin-shell type); Queensland nut; Australian bush nut | seeds edible - "macadamia" or "Queensland nut", taste like hazel nuts, sold either in endocarp and then cracked like almonds or shelled, roasted and salted | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Tow, 1989; Verheij and Coronel, 1991; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Macadamia ternifolia
Queensland |
macadamia (thick-shell) | seeds edible | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove,1987; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Macadamia tetraphylla
Queensland, New South Wales |
macadamia (rough-shell type) | fruit dehiscing on tree, seeds edible, roasted and eaten in Tonga | Thaman, 1976; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Panopsis suaveolens
Costa Rica |
palo de papa; palon de la montañas | nuts very hard, kernels edible | Menninger, 1977 |
ROSACEAE; fruit a head of follicles or achenes
in swollen hypanthium or a pome, rarely a capsule
| Prinsepia utilis
Himalayas |
deciduous thorny shrub; kernel source of an edible oil, also used as an illuminant | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Prunus armeniaca
N. China; widely cultivated in Eurasia and America |
apricot, Chinese almond | cultivated in N. China for its edible kernels, where it has been grown since 2000 BC, kernels smaller than the almond but used in similar ways; fruit pulp the apricot of commerce | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Prunus bucharica
Central Asia |
suffructose, exceptionally drought resistant, 98.5% bitter kernels, 1,5% sweet kernels; kernels source of edible oil; root bark yields yellow dye and tanning | Kovalev, 1941 | |
| Prunus dulcis
W. Asia; cultivated |
almond | kernel eaten as a dessert nut, used in confectionery and as almond butter; seed oil used medicinally; cultivated as an ornamental | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Bianchini et al., 1988; |
| Prunus fasciculata
S.W. USA |
desert or wild almond; wild peach | kernels baked and eaten; browsed | Kearney and Peebles, 1951; Hedrick, 1972; Krochmal, 1982 |
| Prunus ulmifolia
Turkestan |
kernels edible; attractive, early flowering tree | Kovalev, 1941 |
RUTACEAE; fruit schizocarp, berry or drupe
| Calodendrum capensis
East Africa to Cape |
Cape chestnut | nuts eaten; seeds source of an oil used in cosmetics; timber useful; cultivated as an ornamental | Mabberley, 1987; Martin et al., 1988 |
SANTALACEAE; fruit a nut or drupe, 1-seeded
| Santalum acuminata
Australia; cultivated |
quandong; native peach | root parasitic tree; fruit globose, flesh eaten raw or cooked; seed shell hard, kernel oily, nutritious, usually eaten roasted, flavour harsh; nuts as necklaces, etc.; timber for cabinet making and engraving; kernel 60% fat, 25% protein | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Macrae et al., 1993 |
| Santalum spicatum
W. Australia |
sandalwood | parasitic tree; fruit pulp thin, seed shell thin, crushed by hand, kernels eaten; timber, fuelwood | Menninger, 1977 |
SAPINDACEAE Fruit fleshy or dry, dehiscent
or indehiscent, seeds with arils or sarcotestas
| Alectryon macrococcus
Hawaii |
mahoe | aril and kernel eaten | Menninger, 1977 |
| Blighia sapida
West Africa; cultivated |
akee | evergreen tree; ripe fruit pulp eaten fried or boiled, toxic if green or overripe, seed coat toxic but fine flavour when cooked and roasted with the fleshy aril | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1972 |
| Cubilia cubili
central Malesia |
kubili nut | seeds eaten boiled or roasted, leaves used as vegetable; cultivated in Java | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Cupania americana
Mexico |
seeds sweet, chestnut-like, eaten in the Caribbean, also source of fermented liquor | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Deinbollia grandifolia
West Africa |
fruit pulp edible, seeds slightly oily and eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Glenniea penangensis
Malesia |
kernel boiled and eaten | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Lepisanthes fruticosa
Malesia (not in New Guinea); cultivated |
lunan nut | fruit with edible flesh and kernel, the latter roasted and chestnut flavoured; root used in traditional medicine | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Magonia pubescens
Paraguay, Brazil |
tingui | seed oil used for cooking and soap making | Menninger, 1977 |
| Melicoccus bijugatus
Caribbean |
Spanish lime; honney berry; genip; mamoncillo | fruit pulp eaten, seeds usually eaten after roasting | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Nephelium lappaceum
Malesia; widely cultivated in the humid tropics |
rambutan; rampostan | evergreen tree; fruit
pulp edible, seeds bitter and narcotic, sometimes roasted and eaten, source
of an edible cocoa-butter; fruit and seeds source of dyes; wood used in
general construction; fruit used in traditional medicine
Seed contains up to 31% dry weight of fat |
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Nephelium ramboutan-ake
Philippines; cultivated |
pulasan | fruit pulp edible; seeds boiled or roasted for a cocoa-like beverage, also source of an edible cocoa-butter, also used as an illuminant | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Paullinia cupana
South America; cultivated |
guarana | climbing shrub; whole roasted seeds source of commercial "guarana", containing 4.2% caffeine; seeds pounded for a bread, seeds with cassava and water source of alcoholic beverage; used in local medicine as stimulant and digestive | Hedrick, 1973; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1978 |
| Paullinia subrotunda
Asia |
aril and seeds eaten | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Pometia pinnata
Malesia |
Fijian longan; langsir; malugai | raw fruit eaten; oily
seeds boiled or roasted and eaten; timber used locally for construction
purposes
4.4% fat, 4.4% protein, 39.9% fibre |
Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1984; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Sapindus indicum
Asia |
soapberry | fruit latex caustic, ripe seed eaten, contain 50% oil | Menninger, 1977 |
| Schleichera oleosa
Indo-Malesia |
lac tree; Ceylon oak; kussum; kosumba; gum lac | unripe fruit pickled; aril eaten; seeds commercial source of the edible "Macassar oil", used for candles, hair dressing, batik work, soap and illuminant; leaves edible; timber hard, used for mortars; bark for tanning; host of lac insects | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
SAPOTACEAE; fruit fleshy, indehiscent
| Argania spinosa
Morocco; cultivated |
argan tree | seed oil used for cooking and illuminant; drupe eaten by livestock | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Baillonella toxisperma
Nigeria to Zaire |
djave; false shea butternut; African pearwood | forest tree; fruits source of edible seed oil; good timber | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Falconer, 1990; Peters et al. 1992 |
| Diploknema butyracea
India |
Indian butter tree; pholwara | deciduous tree; kernel
source of an edible phulwara butter; seed cake edible, source of fat used
in soap; durable timber used for cabinet work, construction and fuel
kernel contains 60-67% fat |
Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Madhuca longifolia
India |
illipe nut; mahua | kernel commercial source of "illipe butter" used in margarine and soap; seed-cake, "mahua meal", used as worm-killer on lawns; flowers edible | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Madhuca motleyana
Malesia |
seed source of edible oil | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Palaquium amboinense
S.E. Asia |
seed source of fat | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Palaquium gutta
Malaysia |
gutta-percha | evergreen tree; seed source of fat; latex commercial source of "gutta-percha" | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Palaquium hexandrum
Sumatra |
fruit sour, edible, seed source of fat, used for food | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Palaquium philippense
Philippines |
seed source of fat, used for food and as an illuminant | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Palaquium rostratum | fruit green, sweet and edible, seed source of a bitter oil | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Pouteria caimito
Peru; cultivated |
egg fruit; abiu | evergreen tree; fruit 4-12 cm in diameter, seeds 1-5, edible, fresh mucilaginous pulp eaten | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986 |
| Pouteria campechiana
Central America, Caribbean |
canistel; egg-fruit; yellow sapote | fruit pulp edible, dehydrated, powdered and used as food additive; seed edible | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Pouteria glomerata
Central America |
seed edible | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Pouteria obovata
Peru |
lucuma | seed edible; fruit pulp edible, dehydrated, powdered and used as food additive | Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Pouteria sapota
Central America; cultivated |
sapote; mammee zapote; marmalade plum | fruit pulp edible, kernel large, oily, finely ground for a confection, also boiled, roasted, ground and mixed with cocoa; seed oil potential in soap, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries; wood used in construction, for carts and furniture | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Pouteria viridis | green apote | ||
| Tieghemella heckelii
West Africa |
makore; cherry mahogany; bacu, baku | fleshy fruit; kernels source of cooking oil, also used for soap and medicine; timber a mahogany substitute | Menninger, 1977; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Vitellaria paradoxa
N. tropical Africa |
shea nut; shea butternut | tree; fruit source of edible seed oil, shea butter, used in food and illumination, the fractionated shea oil commercial source of cocoa butter equivalents used in chocolate formulations; melliferous. | Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
SIMMONDSIACEAE; fruit a loculicidal capsule,
2 empty locules
| Simmondsia chinensis
S. California, Arizona and northern Mexico |
jojoba; jajoba; goat, sheep or deer nut; wild hazel | dioecious, evergreen shrub bearing 1-seeded, acorn-like capsules; seeds readily eaten by children, native Americans and caprivores, ground as a coffee substitute; seed oil substitute for spermwhale oil, widely used in cosmetics and industry | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Saunders, 1976; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984;
Mabberley, 1987 |
STAPHYLEACEAE; fruit a head of follicles, drupe
or berry or inflated capsule
| Staphylea bolanderi
California |
California bladdernut | shrub or tree; inflated capsule with edible seeds, seed oil sweet, used for cooking | Krochmal, 1982 |
| Staphylea pinnata
Europe |
European bladder nut | kernels taste of pistachio, eaten by children; cultivated as an ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Staphylea trifolia
N.E. USA |
American bladdernut | shrub or tree, inflated capsule with edible seeds; seeds sometimes eaten like a dessert nut, seed oil sweet, used for cooking; cultivated as an ornamental | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Krochmal, 1982 |
STERCULIACEAE; fruit dehiscent or indehiscent,
fleshy to leathery or woody, often separating into mericarps
| Brachychiton acerifolius
E. Australia |
bottle tree, kurrajong | deciduous tree; roasted seeds eaten; timber; Aborigine source of fibre; cultivated as an ornamental | Tow, 1989; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Cola acuminata
West Africa to Angola, introduced in America; cultivated |
Abatacola, kola or bata nut | evergreen tree, fruit edible, "nut" (seed) chewed as a masticatory and stimulant to promote digestion; used in cola drink; sun-dried seeds formerly exported as a source of caffeine; used in local medicine | Dalziel, 1937; Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Cola anomala
Cameroon |
Bamenda cola | "nut" (seed) chewed as a masticatory to promote digestion; used in cola drink; | Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Cola caricaefolia
West Africa |
false or monkey cola | seed kernel eaten | Dalziel, 1937; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Cola heterophylla
West Africa |
monkey cola | seed kernel eaten | Menninger, 1977 |
| Cola millenii
West Africa |
false or monkey cola | whole seed eaten | Dalziel, 1937; Menninger, 1977 |
| Cola nitida
West Africa; cultivated |
kola nut; gbanja kola | evergreen tree; fruit eaten as a masticatory and stimulant, used as an ingredient or flavouring in beverages and mineral waters | Howes, 1948; Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1982; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 |
| Cola rostrata
West Africa |
seed eaten | Dalziel, 1937; Peters et al., 1992 | |
| Cola verticillata
West Africa |
Owé kola, slippery cola | kernel eaten, also chewed as a masticatory to promote digestion; used in cola drink; caffeine present | Dalziel, 1937; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
| Heritiera fomes
Indo-Malesia |
starchy seeds eaten as famine food after leaching tannins | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Heritiera littoralia
coasts of Indian and Pacific Oceans |
seeds eaten with fish; timber for dhow masts | Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 | |
| Pterygota alata
India |
Buddha's coconut | seeds winged eaten; reputedly used as opium substitute; grown as a street tree | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 19987 |
| Sterculia apetala
Central America |
Panama tree | oily seeds eaten raw, roasted or fried | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Sterculia balanghas
tropical E. Asia |
seeds roasted, chestnut flavour | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 | |
| Sterculia chicha
N.E. South America |
maranhao nut | seeds eaten; seed oil used for lubrication, etc. | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Sterculia diversifolia
Australia |
bottle tree | seeds and young taproots eaten by Aborigines | Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977 |
| Sterculia foetida
Old World tropics |
Java olive, sterculia nuts | seeds eaten raw or roasted, taste like filberts, source of oil | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972;
Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Sterculia guttata
tropical India |
seeds eaten | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Sterculia oblongata
Philippines |
malaboho | seeds eaten raw or roasted; root edible; bark fibre for cordage, wood for light carpentry and matches | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1984; Guzman et al., 1986; Verheij and Coronel, 1991 |
| Sterculia quadrifida
Australia |
peanut tree; gorarbar | deciduous tree; roasted seeds eaten by Aborigines; also source of medicine and fibre | Menninger, 1977;Tow, 1989; Lazarides and Hince, 1993 |
| Sterculia rupestris
Australia |
narrow leaved bottle tree | roasted seeds eaten | Menninger, 1977 |
| Sterculia setigera
tropical Africa |
seeds eaten as famine food; source of a gum exudate | Dalziel, 1937; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Purseglove, 1987; Peters et al., 1993 | |
| Sterculia treubii
Lesser Sunda Islands |
seeds eaten, also source of oil | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Sterculia trichosiphon | broad leaved bottle tree | roasted seeds eaten | Menninger, 1977 |
| Sterculia urceolata
Lesser Sunda Islands |
seeds eaten, also source of oil | Menninger, 1977 | |
| Sterculia urens
India |
seeds roasted and eaten, also used as coffee substitute; source of "karaya gum" or "Indian tragacanth" | Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972;
Menninger, 1977; Mabberley, 1987 |
|
| Theobroma bicolor
tropical central and South America |
patashte | evergreen tree; fruit 10-15 x 6-18 cm, seeds numerous, 1.6-3 x 0.8-1.3 cm; pulp eaten raw, seeds eaten cooked toasted or made into inferior chocolate; cocoa butter of good quality; pericarp used for containers | FAO, 1986 |
| Theobroma cacao
tropical South America; widely cultivated |
cocoa | tree; fruit 10-30 x 5-12 cm, seeds numerous; pulp eaten raw, made into jams or jellies, or fermented for alcohol or vinegar; seeds commercial source of cocoa butter for chocolate, contains stimulant theobromine, also used in cosmetics and industry; widely cultivated in the tropics | Menninger, 1977; FAO, 1986; Mabberley, 1987; Purseglove, 1987 |
STYLOBASIACEAE; nut-like
| Stylobasium spathulatum
Australia |
nut bush | nut eaten by Australian aborigines | Brand and Cherikoff, 1985 |
TILIACEAE; fruit a dry or not, dehiscent or
indehiscent
| Diplodiscus paniculatus
Philippines |
baroba nut | tree; starchy seeds boiled and eaten; bark used for cordage; wood for light construction and domestic utensils | Howes, 1948; Mabberley, 1987; Verheij and Coronel. 1991 |
TRAPACEAE; fruit indehiscent, persistent stony
endocarp, one cotyledon retained in fruit
| Trapa bicornis
S.E. Asia; cultivated |
ling nut | annual aquatic herb; fruit eaten boiled, preserved, candied or ground into flour for baking; fruits make a bitter medicine for treating stomach complaints, spleen and ulcers; widely cultivated in China, Japan and Korea | Howes, 1948; Rosengarten, 1984; Anderson, 1986; Mabberley, 1987 |
| Trapa cochinchinensis
S.E. Asia |
annual aquatic herb; fruit eaten | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Trapa incisa
Japan, cultivated |
annual aquatic herb; fruit eaten | Hedrick, 1972 | |
| Trapa natans
var. natans Eurasia, Africa, naturalized North America; cultivated
var. bispinosa tropical Asia; cultivated
var. africana Lake Victoria |
European water chestnut,
horn nut; Jesuit's nut, saligot, water calthrops
singhara nut |
annual aquatic herb; fruit
eaten, ground to flour or boiled, staple food in Neolithic
annual aquatic herb; fruit eaten raw, boiled,
roasted, fried or ground into flour for baking, staple food for Hindus
annual aquatic herb; fruit eaten by the Waganda |
Howes, 1948; Hedrick,
1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987
Howes, 1948; Hedrick, 1972; Menninger, 1977; Rosengarten, 1984; Mabberley, 1987; Peters et al., 1992 Menninger, 1977 |
UMBELLIFERAE; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps
facially united
| Conopodium majus
W.Europe |
earth or pig nut; arnut; jurnut; earth chestnut | annual herb; globose root tubers eaten boiled or roasted | Hedrick, 1972; Mabberley, 1977 |
VOCHYSIACEAE; fruit a loculicidal capsule or
winged samara with accrescent calyx
| Erisma japura
Amazonia |
japurá; quaruba branca | evergreen tree; indehiscent fruit 12-13 x 4 cm, seeds 1, 3-4 cm long; seeds a famine food, eaten raw, roasted or boiled, source of a vile-smelling edible oil, also used for candles, etc. | Hedrick, 1972; FAO, 1986; Mabberley, 1987 |
