Useful Plant Species List
I cannot take credit for writing the species list below, permaculture co-founder Bill Mollison published this in his Introduction to Permaculture book.
Kudos to anyone already growing many of these plants!
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Plants with asterix * next to their names are tropical/subtropical...
1). Plants with food products from roots, tubers, or shoots
*arracacha, asparagus, bamboos, beet, *cassava, carrot, celeriac, chicory, choko, dandelion, *yam beans (PDF), onion, parsnip, radish, sunroot (Jerusalem artichoke), potato, *taro, turnip, salsify, *queensland arrowroot, peanut, scarlet runner bean, duck potato (PDF)
2). Plants giving storable food products
A). nuts
almond, walnut/black walnut, *bunya pine, butternut, chestnut (chinese), hazel, filbert, *macadamia, ginkgo, pecan, *pistachio, oaks, pine nuts
. fruits (suitable for local drying and storing)
apple, apricot, fig, jujube, peach, prune plum, cherry, pear, *mango, *pineapple, *banana (small varieties), grape (raisin varieties)
C). flours and meals
carob, honey locust (PDF), sweet chestnut, white mulberry (PDF), pigeon pea, *indian water chestnut, *queensland arrowroot
D). cooking and salad oils
almond, beech, hazel, olive, live oak, walnut, mustard, grapeseed, safflower, rape, sunflower
3). Fresh fruits
A). temperate
alpine strawberry, loquat, apple, medlar, apricot, mulberry, blueberry, nectarine, cape gooseberry, pear, peach, checker berry, kiwifruit, persimmon (PDF), plum, feijoa, fig, grape, grapefruit, strawberry, strawberry guava, jujube, cherry, tamarillo, berries (black, logan, boysen, red), banana, passionfruit, black/red currants
. subtropical/tropical
mango, guava, carambola, lychee, sapote/mammey sapote, papaya, prickly pear, granadilla, passionfruit, jakfruit, rambutan, mangosteen, naranjilla, jaboticaba, pepino, custard apple, natal plum, pineapple, citrus spp.
4). Fruit used in cooking, preserves, and wine
cranberry, quince, cornelian cherry, pomegranate, elderberry (PDF), huckleberry, barberry, cumquat
5). Fruit high in vitamin c
*barbados cherry, rose (rosa rugosa), *guava, citrus, *rosella
6). Animal forages and feeds
A). nuts, pods, seeds
almond, beech, oaks, honey locust, hazel, mesquites, taupata, siberian pea shrub (PDF), tagasaste (PDF), walnut, hickories, *ice cream bean, *pigeon pea, quinoa, *winged bean, acacias, *leucaena, amaranth, *sesbania, carob
. foliage
bamboo, chicory, comfrey, tagasaste, sunroot, *lab-lab bean, tree medic, *sesbania, willow, *winged bean, choko/chayote, lespedeza, lucerne, lupin, pampas grass, vigna spp., *leucaena, *pigeon pea, taupata, kurrajong, dandelion
C). roots, tubers, rhizomes
*arracacha, sunroot, *yam, comfrey, arrowhead, duck potato, *queensland arrowroot, *yam beans, chicory, choko, sweet potato
7). Edible flowers for salads
daylily, calendula, black locust, *sesbania, salsify, zucchini, rose (rosa rugosa, r. canina), borage, feijoa, nasturtium, dandelion, sweet violet, *winged bean
8 ). Hedge plants
taupata, alder, hazel, autumn olive, laurelberry, coprosma, pomegranate (closely spaced/clipped), damson plum, sour cherry, clumping bamboos, hawthorn, russian olive, elderberry, pampas grass, *queensland arrowroot
9). Animal barrier plants (spiny or unpalatable dense thickets)
euphorbia spp., gorse, honey locust, (prickly pear) cactus, hawthorn, sloe, natal plum
10). Useful perennial vines
A). deciduous
grape, kiwifruit, scarlet trumpet vine, virginia creeper, wisteria, scarlet runner bean, *yam beans
. evergreen
*passionfruit, *vanilla, jasmine, choko/chayote, *lab-lab bean, ivy
11). Pest control plants
*sunn hemp (nematodes), marigold (tagetes spp.) nematodes, pyrethrum daisy (broad spectrum insecticide), white cedar and neem tree (insecticide), tobacco (insecticide), derris elliptica, rhubarb (insecticide)
12). Umbelliferous plants
celery, florence fennel, dill, lovage, caraway, fennel, anise, parsnip, angelica, parsley, chervil, queen anne's lace, coriander, cumin, sweet cicely, carrot
13). Composite plants
tarragon, tansy, wormwood, artichoke, sunroot, southernwood, chamomile, daisies, salsify, sunflower
14). Water or wetland plants
azolla (PDF), watercress, mint, water lily, wild rice, duckweed, willows, highbush cranberry, cumbungi/cattail, reed (phragmites spp.), rush (scirpus spp.), water chestnut, *kang kong, *lotus, rice, duck potato (arrowhead), cranberry
15). Bee forage
almond, apple, bergamot, lavender, loganberry, lucerne/alfafa, blackberry, black currant, apricot, black locust, leatherwood, clover, peach, pear, raspberry, rosemary, sage, sloe, sour cherry, pride of madeira, osier willow, lupin, mesquites, mints, borage, cherry plum, comfrey, dandelion, tagasaste, gooseberry, citrus spp., hawthorn, hysop, laurelberry, some eucalypts
16). Species for very dry sites
almond, black locust, burr oak, carob, cork oak, tagasaste, many acacia spp., pomegranate, fig, holm oak, honey locust, lavender, most aromatic herbs, mesquites, mulberry, olive, new zealand spinach, pampas grass, prickly pear, *pistachio, jujube, quandong, rosemary, stone pine, taupata
17). Legumes and other nitrogen-fixing plants (*denotes non-legume nitrogen fixer)
A). temperate
trees- tagasaste, autumn olive, *alder, albizia, tree medic, black locust, russian olive, siberian pea shrub, *ceanothus
small species- azolla (aquatic), clover, beans and peas, lupin, fenugreek, lucerne, vetch, lespedeza (PDF)
. warm/dry climates
trees- mesquite, tagasaste, casuarina, acacias, albizia
C). tropics/subtropics
trees- acacias, gliricidia, leucaena, pongamia, cassia, tipuana tipu, albizia, calliandra, sesbania, tamarind, ice cream bean tree
small species- pigeon pea, winged bean, beans and peas, lucerne, lab-lab bean, peanut, clover
Plant Descriptions
Acacias (acacia spp.)
Leguminous trees and shrubs ranging from 3-25m, species growing from
arid regions to the tropics; often spiny.
Uses: Some species are important fodder plants of drylands, with
leaves, pods, and seeds used; firewood and tiber. Nitrogen-fixing;
Fukuoka planted silver wattle (A. dealbata) in his fields to boost
production. Erosion control.
Fodder: Mulga (acacia aneura) widespread in Australian drylands,
fast-growing and palatable to stock; to 7m tall. Camel thorn
(faidherbia alibi) thorny tree to 25m; foliage and pods important
fodder yielding 135kg pods/tree in Sudan. Deciduous in wet season,
full leaf in dry. Myall (a. pendular) grows on heavy soils where no
other trees will grow (protects soil and gives shade as well as
fodder). Other fodder trees are a. salicina (native willow), a.
senegal, a. seyal.
Timber: Blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), fast-growing, long-lived, cool
climate acacia used in fine furniture (in warm climates a. melanoxylon
is a scraggly, short-lived tree). Silver wattle (a. dealbata) and
hickory wattle (a. falci-formis) also important timber trees.
Albizia (albizia lopantha, a. julibrissin)
Leguminous, evergreen, quick-growing trees with feathery leaves.
Height: 9-15m. Warm temperate to tropical climates.
Uses: Shade tree, with ornamental leaves and flowers. Windbreak if
lopped to encourage bushiness. Pioneer tree; in the tropics, chili
peppers, pineapples, banana, and fruit trees are grown under
widely-spaced albizia, providing a 3-tier productive system. Most
species are palatable to stock (a. lopantha, a. chinensis).
Nitrogen-fixing.
Alder (Alnus spa.)
Fast-growing, short-lived trees mainly forming dense
thickets. Height 10-25m. Although not legumes, are nitrogen-fixing,
and create a thick black humus. Useful if already present for rough
mulch, composting. Use as a nurse crop for other trees, provides
shelter, mulch, and nitrogen. Can eventually be cut out altogether, or
a few trees allowed to grow on for nitrogen-fixing, mulch. As firewood
it may burn too hot, but stickwood is useful. Some alnus spp. are a.
tenuifolia (mountain alder), a. crispa (downy alder).
Amaranth (amaranthus spp.)
Upright annuals to 1m of which grain amaranth (a. hypochondriacus) and
leaf amaranth (a. gangeticus) are most valuable. Grown in full sun or
even partial shade; grain amaranth needs a 90 day growing season to
set seed. Temperate areas through highland dry tropics.
Uses: Grain amaranth a high protein crop (18%); seeds eaten popped or
ground up into flour. Leaves eaten raw or cooked. Leaf amaranth grown
throughout year in warm climates; tasty leaves are bright red and
green. Valuable vitamin and mineral plant. Chicken fodder (seeds);
leaves for stock, can be turned into silage. Cover crop.
Arracacha (arracacha xanthorrhiza, a. esculenta)
Also known as peruvian parsnip. Grown in high altitude tropics to
subtropical climates. Herbaceous perennial producing large starchy
roots. Propagated by tubers.
Uses: Eaten like potatoes or cassava. Coarse main rootstocks and
mature leaves fed to animals. Young stems for salads. Excellent
understorey crop.
Asparagus (asparagus officinalis)
Perennial rootstock with new edible shoots each year yielding well for
at least 20 years if manured and watered. Yields after 3 years in
spring. Easily propagated in winter by crown division. Naturalizes
along sandy watercourses, though does not produce large stalks as does
manured asparagus.
Uses: Human food, bank stabilizers for sandy streams. Temperate to
subtropical climates.
Autumn Olive and Russian Olive (elaeagnus umbellata, e.
angustifolia, and other spp.)
Fast growing nitrogen fixing shrubs to 4.5m and 20m respectively.
Autumn olives forms thickets or hedges when clipped. Tolerates poor
soil, drought. Likes full sun although other species will tolerate
partial to full shade. Temperate and cold area plants.
Uses: Good windbreak and erosion control plant. Edible berries for
birds and poultry, cold area chicken forage plant. Ornamental screen
hedges. Silverberry (e. commutata) and cherry elaeagnus (e.
multiflora) also important wildlife, poultry berry plants.
Azolla (azolla spp.)
Free floating small water ferns (red or green) which contain a
nitrogen fixing bacteria (anabaena azollae). All climates, although
dies back in hot weather.
Uses: Duck fodder. Nitrogen mulch for rice or taro crop for nitrogen.
Can be skimmed off surface of pounds and used as a rich mulch on
adjacent crops; or ponds drained, azolla turned under, and crops
grown.
Bamboo (1250 species)
Two main types are running bamboos and clumping bamboos. Generally the
tropical/subtropical varieties are clumpers and the temperate
varieties are runners. In the case of runner bamboos, care must be
taken so that they do not become rampant; they do not cross water, so
may be contained on an island in a dam. Bamboos grown from the equator
to about 40 degrees north and south. Propagation is by division of
clumps, rhizome cuttings, and basal cane cuttings. Bamboo grows best
in rich organic soil with plenty of water.
Uses: Human food (clumps are hilled to produce large, tender shoots)
and foliage as animal forage (some species such as arundinaria
racemosa, sasa palmata). Structural: stakes, fishpoles, spears (small
canes), building frameworks, concrete reinforcing (big canes). Clumps:
windbreak, steep bank stabilizers. Other: utensils, mulch, artisanry.
Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia)
Deciduous tree 10-20m thin foliage lives up to 200 years. Grows
rapidly and forms thickets by root suckers (very aggressive). Very
hardy and suited to cool areas, poor soils.
Uses: Pasture improver on very poor country (nitrogen fixer), erosion
control, windbreak tree, bee forage, seed for poultry, and timber
suited to beams, tools, and shafts. Poles last over 20 years untreated
in the ground.
Blackberry, Raspberry (rubus spp.)
Cultivars include boysenberry, loganberry. Vigorously grown prickly
thickets (some thornless varieties have been developed). High value
commercial crop on trellis. Blackberry easily becomes rampant, spread
by seeds and tip-rooting. Can be marooned on islands. Blackberry (r.
laciniatus) has a thornless variety (oregon thornless) which is best
for gardens. Loganberry and boysenberry are preferred cultivars, with
very large berries. May need netting against birds. Bee forage.
Blueberry, Huckleberry, Cranberry (vaccinium spp.)
Deciduous shrubs from 2.5cm to 3.6m tall, cool temperate to
subtropical climates. Tolerate partial shade or full sun.
Uses: Understorey berry crop. Most species good bee forage. High bush
blueberry (v. corymbosum) grows to 1.2-3.6m and is grown as a
commercial crop, needs to be netted against birds. Low bush blueberry
(v. angusifolium) can be used as a groundcover (8-20cm), avoid frost
pockets. Huckleberry (v. membranaceum, v. ovatum) are not commercially
grown for berries, but these are tasty for human use; also poultry
forage. Evergreen huckleberry produces best in partial shade. Species
grow 30cm-3m tall. Cranberry (v. oxcoccus) is about 25cm tall, it is
an evergreen prostrate undershrub and grows well in peat bogs, with
soil pH of 3.2 to 4.5. A constant water supply is necessary for good
fruiting, but plants should not be swamped. Rich humus and thick
mulches are ideal. Avoid planting in known frost pockets, fruits must
ripen before hard frosts. High value commercial crop.
Borage (borago officinalis)
An upright self seeding annual to .6m at maturity. Can be grown in
full sun or partial shade, tolerates poor soils but needs regular
watering. Easy to propagate in large quantities, sow seed in spring.
Temperate climate.
Uses: Good bee forage with a long flowering season. Leaves and flowers
in salads. Compost/manure tea with comfrey: rich in potash and
calcium, breaks down very quickly. Medicinal properties:
anti-inflammatory.
Broad bean (vicia faba)
Annual legume (.5-1m), temperate to subtropical climates, likes full
sun but grows well in cloudy maritime climates over winter.
Uses: Human food- young leaves, pods, beans (fresh or dried). Also
used as stock fodder. Cover crop over garden beds, fields; green
manure crop and nitrogen fixer, with crop cut and used for mulch
before flowering (nitrogen stays in the soil).
Cape gooseberry (physalis peruviana)
A perennial tender creeping bush of the tomato family (solanaceae)
with small greenish yellow fruits surrounded by a papery calyx or
husk. Fruits ripen in late summer and are used fresh or stewed. Used
in mexico as a hot sauce when mixed with chillies and onions. Easily
frost damaged, grown as an annual in cold temperate climates.
Carob (ceratonia siliqua)
A long lived tree 5-15m grown for its sugary pods. A tree of the
mediterranean, it does best in dry temperate climates and can tolerate
poor soil conditions. Frost damages flowers and young fruit but not
the trees; very wet weather in autumn can rot the ripening pods. A
leguminous tree, although does not fix nitrogen.
Uses: Human food- ground meal is a chocolate or coffee substitute,
widely used in health food products. Pods as stock feed for energy and
protein concentrate (ground as meal or fed whole to large animals).
Yields in mediterranean climates are 45-225kg/tree. The seeds yield a
gum with water-absorbing qualities used in cosmetic and chemical
industries.
Cassava (manihot esculenta)
Lowland tropical crop with starchy tubers. Widely used in africa,
south pacific, latin america. Grown on ridges or mounds interplanted
with annual food crops. Can withstand neglect, grows in nutrient poor
soils, tolerates drought (except after propagation). Can be kept in
the ground until required.
Uses: Eaten (after peeling) boiled or baked. Dried slices may be kept
for several months; cassava flour is made by grinding these dried
chips. Fermented pulp is eaten in west africa. Starch or tapioca is
used for puddings, biscuits, and confectionary.
Chestnut (castanea mollissima, c. sativa)
Large spreading deciduous tree to 30m, long lived. Grafted trees yield
in 7-9 years. Temperate mediterranean climates tolerate dry
conditions. Like well drained soils. Need cross pollination for best
results. May not bear well in climates with cool summers.
Uses: As food: spanish or sweet chestnut (c. sativa) important
commercial crop in europe, while chinese chestnut (c. mollissima)
grown in US because of resistance to blight fungus. Chestnuts are
eaten whole, roasted and husked, or ground for sweet flour, rich in
starch. High grade stock fodder, especially for pigs.
Chicory (cichorium intybus)
Herbaceous perennial long used as a vegetable in europe and the
orient, grows from .6m to 1.6m. Likes full sun and grows from
temperate to subtropical regions. Naturalizes in fields and on
disturbed soils.
Uses: Bee forage, early and long flowering. Roots roasted for
coffee-like beverage. Mineral rich leaves (from deep taproot mining
the soil) excellent component in pasture as forage crop; improves milk
quality and quantity. Medicinal (both human and animal); used for
rheumatism, eczema, blood diseases.
Chinese water chestnut (eleocharis dulcis)
Aquatic rush with edible culms, grown in shallows or damp mud.
Subtropics/tropics, can be grown wherever there are 8 frost free
months. May need to be netted against ducks when green shoots are
emerging. Caution: As with many aquatic plants, these may accumulate
heavy metals so make sure pond water is not polluted (or use these to
help clean up water, do not harvest).
Uses: Valuable human food, high in carbohydrate, uses extensively in asia.
Citrus (citrus spp.)
Wide range of evergreen shrubs or trees to 10m, including lemon, lime,
cumquat, orange, grapefruit, mandarin. Dry warm temperate
(mediterranean) climates to tropics. In marginal temperate areas,
place in warm, sunny position. Tree can withstand light frost, but
frost at -2 degrees celsius kills flowers and young fruit. Need
shelter in high wind areas.
Uses: Fresh fruit or juice, marmalade, concentrate for cordials. High
vitamin c source, especially if white pith is also eaten. Waste pulp
fed to cattle. Peel is source of essential oils (used in flavoring and
perfumes), also provides pectin.
Choko or chayote (sechium edule)
Herbaceous scrambler, vigorous perennial on thick rootstock.
Subtropics to tropics, not hardy to frost.
Uses: Roots used for starch, boiled or baked; young shoots eaten as a
salad, steamed. Most commonly eaten is the fruit, a large bland
vegetable which can be baked, steamed, or fried with other vegetables.
Used to smother less vigorous plants such as lantana, and is a good
roof covering for summer. Pig and poultry food.
Comfrey (symphytum officinale)
Herbaceous perennial to 1m high. Dies down in winter, except in mild
climates. Easily propagated by root division; any part of the root
crown will grow. Clumps of comfrey will stay in one place, but if dug
or rototilled will spread quickly. High yields on fertile, watered
country. 20-25% crude protein.
Uses: Excellent bee forage. Stock fodder if fed in limited quantities
(overfeeding has been shown to cause some liver damage in animals).
Medicinal herb; roots dried, powdered and used in ointments for
bruises, arthritis, broken bones. Vegetable source of vitamin B12, and
can be used sparingly in salads, cooking. Rich source of mulch (high
potash) and is combined with other leaves and manures for
nutrient-rich "manure tea".
Currants and gooseberries (ribes spp.)
Small deciduous shrubs .5-1m tolerating partial shade; good hardy
understorey bush tolerating neglect. Hardwood cuttings taken in autumn
root easily. Bear 10-20 years if properly cared for. Mostly temperate
plants.
Uses: Tasty smal fruits which can be eaten raw or made into juice,
wine, jelly. Wildlife forage food, including birds and poultry (plants
may need to be netted if used entirely for human food). Edible
species: black currant (r. nigrum), golden currant (r. aureum), red
currant (r. rubrum). Excellent bee forage. Also ornamental, especially
golden currant and red-flowering currant (r. sanguineum). Gooseberries
(r. grossularia) grow successfully in rock crevices, like well-drained
positions.
Cumbungi or cattail (typha latifolia, t. orientalis)
Dense, herbaceous perennial to 4m, grows in full sun or shade around
pond edges. Caution: Can be invasive weed. Temperate to subtropical
climates.
Uses: Shoots edible, used like asparagus. Roots are peeled, cooked or
grated raw. Seeds, roasted, have nutty flavor. Animal forage, mainly
roots, especially for pigs. Weaving material, basketry. Duck and water
fowl habitat. Seed head is of downy material, can be used as tinder.
Extracts pollutants from water.
Dandelion (taraxacum officinale)
Small perennial herb with yellow flowers early spring to late autumn.
Grows in temperate to subtropical areas and is a common weed in lawns,
pastures. Grows in full sun or shade.
Uses: Leaves, roots, flowers eaten: roots are used as a coffee
substitute. Flowers can be used to make wine. Important bee forage
with early and long flowering, high pollen yield. Forage crop,
improves milk quality and quantity, good mix with lucerne.
Daylily (hemerocallis fulva)
Herbaceous perennial to .6m temperate to subtropical climates.
Tolerates partial shade useful understorey plant.
Uses: Edible shoots, flowerbuds, flowers, tubers. Low-maintenance
plant, erosion control on hillsides. Ornamental. Grow under trees as
part of guild with marigolds, dil, nasturtium, etc.
Duckweed (lemna minor)
Perennial floating aquatic of ponds (likes quiet water), temperate
climates. May completely cover a pond and exclude light.
Uses: Duck, goose, fish forage, may have potential as chicken, pig
food. Can be skimmed off ponds and used as high nutrient mulch
material. May take up heavy metals in polluted waters.
Elderberry (sambucus nigra, s. canadensis)
Deciduous shrub to 6m, temperate climate, tolerates full sun to
partial shade. Easily propagated from cuttings.
Uses: Hedgerow shrub, windbreak. Ripe berries make wine, dye,
conserves (should not be eaten raw). Flowers fermented with lemon
juice and peel as a beverage, or infused in hot water for respiratory
inflammations. Caution: Leaves, roots, stems, and unripe fruit may be
poisonous to humans and to stock.
Feijoa (feijoa sellowiana)
Also called pineapple guava, although not a true guava. Evergreen
shrub 4-6m. Warm temperate areas to subtropics, grows in cool climates
but fruits only in hot summers (place in sunny location). Needs
shelter from wind. Grown commercially in New Zealand. If growing from
seed, notice round tips on leaves in nursery beds; these indicate
large-fruited forms and should be selected. Yields 3-4 years from
cuttings (taken in summer).
Uses: Fruit for dessert, conserves. Petals of flowers are very sweet
and used in salads. Ornamental.
Fennel (foeniculum vulgare, f. dulce)
An upright self-seeding biennial or short-lived hardy perennial with
umbel-shaped flowers in summer which attract beneficial insects
(insectary plant). Grows in poor soils, naturalizes along roadsides in
temperate climates. Grows both in full sun or full shade.
Uses: Seeds for culinary purposes: seeds and roots medicinally.
Foliage as fresh herb, and root of florence fennel (f. dulce) used in
salads (crispy like celery, but with an anise flavor). Prefers rich
garden soil. Stock fodder in controlled quantities is medicinal.
Suppresses grasses.
Fig (ficus carica)
Deciduous shrub or tree to 8m, widespread in mediterranean climates
and marginal subtropics (not too wet). Likes full sun, will shade out
anything planted underneath unless pruned. Propagated by cuttings.
Important commercial crop, eaten fresh or dried. Useful chicken and
pig forage. Mulch from dead leaves in autumn.
Filber, hazel (c. maxima, corylus avellana)
Many varieties most producing edible nuts (filberts and hazelnuts).
Small deciduous trees or thicket-forming shrubs to 6m, long lived to
150 years. Grafted varieties start yielding in 5-6 years, with peak
nut production at 15 years. Major commercial production in dry,
mediterranean countries, but also suited to cool temperate. Needs
cross-pollination. Tolerates shade, but for nut production needs sun;
yields best on an edge. Well-drained, fertile soil is best.
Use: Nuts for human food, also as an animal forage (low grade or small
nuts). Good hedgerow tree which can be coppiced for poles, stakes,
etc, may need wind shelter in first years.
Gliricidia (gliricia sepium, g. maculata)
Fast growing vigorous deciduous tree to 9m, out competes most tropical
grasses. Grows in tropical and subtropical climates, legume tree.
Uses: Widely used shade tree for banana, coffee, young coca. Can be
topped to produce material for green manuring. Tolerates repeated
coppicing and is used in alley farming and for firewood. Also useful
as a firebreak and tropical bee fodder. Durable wood for poles,
fenceposts, and stakes. Legume tree.
Guava (psidium guajava and other spp.)
Shallow-rooted shrub or small tree, 3-10m, can produce suckers.
Adaptable to wide range of soils, susceptible to frost.
Drought-tolerant. Sometimes become rampant as seeds are carried by
birds.
Uses: Fruit eaten fresh, although its numerous seeds make it best for
conserves, jellies, paste, juice. Very high vitamin c (2-5 times that
of oranges). Strawberry guava (p. littorale) hardier, marginally
suited to cool areas, place in warm, sunny position.
Ginger (zingiber officinale)
Herbaceous perennial of the humid tropics and subtropics, reaching
90cm. Easily propagated by rhizomes. Often grown commercially as an
intercrop with coconut, coffee, citrus, and turmeric (which provides
partial shade to young ginger). Rhizomes eaten fresh or preserved for
flavoring (candied, dried, and powdered).
Grape (vitis vinifera and spp.)
Long lived deciduous perennial vine, preferring some chill factor for
fruiting, but many varieties and cultivars are adapted to a wide
climatic and soil range. Planted on trellis, although in ancient times
allowed to scramble on mulberry and fig trees.
Uses: Fresh fruit, also dried (raisins), wine, juice. Young leaves are
used as a food wrapping in cooking (greek dolmas). Seeds are an
excellent cooking oil. Deciduous vines to block summer sun from
houses.
Hawthorns (crataegus spp.)
Tough, thorny, deciduous shrubs/trees 2-7m high, slow-growing but long
lived (100-300 years). Tolerate partial shade, poor soils.
Uses: Edible berries for jellies, conserves. Hedge and windbreak plant
for temperate climates, grown extensively as hedgerows in England.
Habitat for birds: shelter, nesting and food: useful for poultry. Good
bee forage. Coppice wood. Black hawthorn (c. douglasii) produces best
fruits for human consumption. English hawthorn (c. monogyma) makes a
narrow, dense hedge. Popular southern european variety is
mediterranean medlar (c. azarolus).
Hickory (carya ovata, c. laciniosa, c. ovata)
Large deciduous trees (18-45m) yielding nuts through winter to spring;
form upright cylindrical crowns. Yields often irregular, need
cross-pollination. Pecan (c. illinoensis) most important nut tree of
the genus. It needs 150-200 frost-free days, without extremes of cold
or heat, suitable for subtropics but grown even in New Zealand.
Uses: Nuts as human food: inferior nuts as forage for pigs (also for
chickens if cracked and soaked). Excellent wood for tool handles (very
tough) and charcoal (imparts flavor to hams in smoking process).
Honey Locust (gleditsia triacanthos)
Deciduous tree 6-40m, very thorny when young although thornless
cultivars have been developed (g. triacanthos inermis). Trees have
open canopy which allows clovers and pasture to be grown underneath.
Frost and drought-hardy, likes temperate regime of hot summers, cold
winters. Tolerates most soils. Although a legume tree, nitrogen-fixing
nodules have not been observed in the roots. Yields up to 110kg of
pods per tree at years 8-9, at 86 trees/hectare, pod production
equivalent to 10 tons/hectare of oat crop. Transplants easily, grows
in full sun. Seed pods need to be gathered from trees as soon as they
fall in mid-autumn and the seed scarified or boiling water poured over
them (and soaked). Select high-yielding, thornless varieties.
Uses: Pods are high in sugar (27-30%): pod and seeds 10% protein.
Excellent stock fodder, ground or whole, especially during drought or
at the end of summer pasture. Durable, quality timber. Excellent bee
forage. High sugar content means potential for fuel production,
molasses, wine.
Hops (humulus lupus)
Long lived (80-100 years) herbaceous perennial climber. Propagate from
root cuttings. Naturalizes on swamp edges and river banks, scrambles
in shrubs and trees or can be wound on hanging cords, wires.
Uses: Mainly grown for beer flavoring, but also used as a pillow
filling and mild narcotic (hops steeped in sherry to enhance calm and
sleepiness). Shoots and tips used as steamed green. Browsed by sheep,
geese when young, although sheep can be used in plantations from late
spring to winter to browse the grass beneath the hops as commercial
hop growers often cut vines to the roots.
Horseradish (armoracia rusticana)
Herbaceous perennial .5-1m growing from large, edible root. Grows best
in cool climates, likes full sun but can grow well in partial shade
and useful as an understorey plant. Propagate by root division: all
the pieces grow (like comfrey). Root eaten as a condiment. Medicinal
uses are as a diuretic, for infections, and lung problems.
Ice cream bean (inga edulis)
Medium leguminous tree to 12m, subtropical and tropical climates.
White fruit pulp from pods used in desserts (said to taste like ice
cream). Shade tree for coffee and tea plantations, mid-level
understorey tree. Nitrogen-fixer.
Jujube (ziziphus jujuba)
Also called chinese date, deciduous tree to 12m, sometimes a large
spiny dense shrub. Thrives in hot dry regions, alkaline soils, and can
withstand severe heat, drought, and some frost. Propagation by
stratified seed or root cuttings.
Uses: Fruit can be eaten fresh, dried, pickled (resembles dates).
Leaves and fruit useful fodder for stock, pigs. Trees coppice well and
produce good firewood. Leaves used to feed the tasser silkworm.
Kang Kong (ipomoea aquatica)
Aquatic floating herbaceous perennial found throughout the tropics.
Young terminal shoots and leaves used as spinach; rich in minerals and
vitamins. Vines are used as fodder for cattle, pigs, also fish food.
"In malaya it is widely grown in fish ponds by the chinese who feed it
to their pigs, whose manure is used to fertilize the fish ponds. Thus
fish, pork, and spinach are provided." (Tropical crops - Dicotyledons,
J.W. Purseglove, 1968 ).
Kiwifruit (actinidia chinensis)
Also called chinese gooseberry, large woody deciduous climber,
trellised at 2.5m forming a bramble. Dioecious (male and female
plants) although male and female may be grafted on one vine. Needs
strong trellis system. Tolerates frost, grown from temperate climates
to subtropics. Needs shelter from wind. Actinidia arguta tolerates
heavy frost, has smaller astringent fruits, but hybridized with
kiwifruit will produce sweeter yields.
Uses: Delicious fruits: for eating, wine, conserves. May be fed to
pigs and chickens if fruit set is abundant; also a high value
commercial crop. Useful deciduous shade vine for pergolas, patios.
Kurrajong and bottle tree (brachychiton populneum and b. rupestre)
Hot dry climate fodder trees suited to agroforestry. Large trees. Have
deep tap roots; do not compete with crops or pastures. Can be easily
coppiced.
Uses: Leaf fodder, especially as drought rations for sheep and cattle.
Leaves lack phosphorus, which must be provided by stock licks. Bottle
trees (b. represtre) are often cut down completely to feed soft inner
pith to cattle in extreme drought; these must be replanted.
Lab-lab bean (lab-lab purpureus- syn. dolichos lab-lab)
Herbaceous perennial legume, often grown as an annual- 1.5-6m tall.
Subtropical to tropical evergreen or summer herbaceous climber. May
become rampant, but managed by slashing 3-4 times a year or grazing by
sheep, goats, or cows. In subtropics dies back in light frost and can
therefore be interplanted with grains. Tropics: remains green in dry
season.
Uses: Young leaves eaten raw or cooked, ripe seeds as split peas, or
sprouted, boiled and mashed to a paste, then fried. High biomass
forage crop (either green or as hay or silage). A useful dryland
trellis crop for a sun shield (must be watered). Excellent green
manure plant and cover crop; cut and use as mulch. Often grown in
rotation with commercial crop to provide nitrogen.
Lavender (lavandula vera, L. dentata)
Small woody shrub easily grown from cuttings. Suited to cool areas and
is drought-resistant (originally a mediterranean plant). Well-drained,
alkaline soil is best.
Uses: Ornamental plant, creating an edge in gardens; excellent bee
forage. Flowers and leaves used medicinally. Lavender oil is a
powerful germicide and insect repellant; dried flowers keep moths out
of stored linen and clothes. Place sachets of lavender flowers in
clothes drawers.
Lemongrass (cymbopogon citratus)
Perennial medium-sized "grass" of subtropics and tropics.
Uses: Lemongrass tea, and flavoring used in asian cooking. Excellent
border plant in gardens and orchards to create edge; cut and use for
mulch. Erosion control on slopes when planted in rows along the
contour, will catch and hold silt.
Lespedeza (lespedeza spp.)
Sericea (L. cuneata) is a perennial legume (similar to clover) common
in temperate zones. High value animal fodder, hay and soil improver
(nitrogen-fixer). Also used to stabilize slopes. Mostly grown in the
USA for hay, cut before flowers bloom. L. stipulacea and L. striata
are annuals.
Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephela)
A fast growing leguminous tropical tree 10-20m (although can be kept a
manageable size if coppiced or grazed by cattle). Does best on
well-drained soils. Contains a mimosine that may cause toxicity in
stock if overfed; a low mimosine variety is L. Leucocephela var.
cunninghamii. Also, CSIRO scientists have isolated a microbial culture
which cattle can use to break down the toxic substance in their
stomaches. As long as a leucaena is kept to 30-40% of diet, there are
no adverse effects even from normal leucaena varieties.
Uses: Excellent high quality forage (both leaves and pods) for cattle,
sheep, goats; palatable and nutritious. Can be cut and fed, or stock
let in to browse. Also useful in revegetating tropical hillslopes
prone to erosion. Excellent coppicing for firewood, good timber. Rich
in organic fertilizer, used as mulch in alley cropping. Fixes nitrogen
in the soil. Used extensively as living fence/hedge species in west
africa and india.
Loquat (eriobotrya japonica)
A small evergreen tree to 7m, slow to develop from seed; use proven
cultivars grafted onto loquat, pear, or quince stock. Yields by 6th
year, peaks in 15-20 years. Suited to temperate areas; needs
sheltered, sunny position. Frost hardy but needs warmth for fruiting.
Suits most soils, but is a gross feeder (plant near leachline
outfall).
Uses: Fresh fruit in spring; medium understorey tree. Poultry and pig
fodder (fruits).
Lucerne/alfalfa (medicago sativa)
Perennial leguminous herb with life expectancy of 10 years.
Uses: Human food: foliage as alfalfa tea; alfalfa sprouts for salads.
Major temperate animal fodder plant. Excellent bee forage, blooming
just after sweet clover. Soil improver, drawing up subsoil nutrients;
useful ground cover/living mulch under trees. Also tree medic
(medicago arborea): perennial leguminous shrub to 4m; grows in
temperate zones. Important fodder shrub with foliage equivalent to
lucerne. Can be netted and sheep allowed to browse.
Macadamia (macadamia tetraphylla, m. integrifolia)
Slow growing evergreen nut tree to 20m, subtropical to tropical
climates. Need windbreak protection. Grafted varieties bear in 6-7
years. Native to Australia, grown extensively in Hawaii and
California.
Uses: High value nuts, difficult to crack by hand. Nut shells make
excellent mulch. As with many trees, can be grown in pasture, with
sheep let in after trees are mature enough to withstand grazing
animals.
Maple (acer saccharum, a. macrophyllum)
Deciduous cold area tree to 30m. Long lived to over 200 years.
Tolerates partial shade. Sends out growth inhibitor to nearby plants
through roots.
Uses: Maple sugar, tapped in winter. Ornamental: red and yellow autumn
leaves. Good carving wood. Bee forage.
Mesquites (prosopis juliflora, p. tamarugo)
Leguminous spreading shrubs and small trees 10-15m. Arid climates,
totally drought-resistant and extremely salt tolerant. Grown from
saline desert to semi-desert zones. P. juliflora (honey mesquite)
yields 50 tons of pods per hectare, with 3-5 years to production.
Caution: Easily becomes rampant.
Uses: Major fodder trees of drylands for stock and poultry; 14cm long
pods are high in sugar, some protein. Pods made into a syrup (in
Peru). Bee forage. Coppices easily for firewood. Also p. alba, p.
nigra, p. pallida, and p. chilensis.
Moringa (moringa oleifera)
Also called the horseradish or drumstick tree. Small tree to 10m;
propagated by cuttings. Tropical fast growing. Tender pods as
vegetables; flowers and young leaves eaten. Fried seeds. Roots as
condiment (like horseradish). Twigs and leaves lopped for stock
fodder.
Mulberry (morus spp.)
Deciduous dome-shaped trees to 20m, grow from temperate to subtropical
climates. Main species are black mulberry (m. nigra), red mulberry (m.
rubra), and white mulberry (m. alba). Can be grown in full sun but is
also shade tolerant. Easily grown from seed or cuttings.
Uses: Edible berries, m. nigra and m. rubra have superior fruit. M.
alba is fast growing, with short fruiting season; leaves are used as
silk-worm food in China. Excellent trees for poultry and pig forage as
fruits are numerous and fall easily to the ground. Leaves can also be
fed to cattle. Useful wood for fenceposts and barrels.
Nasturtium (tropaeolum majus)
A creeping or climbing perennial, usually grown as an annual;
frost-sensitive. Prolific in moist gardens, but will also grow in most
soils and sites.
Uses: Good ground cover and companion plant around fruit trees. Seeds
can be pickled as a substitute for capers; they are also used
medicinally as an antiseptic. Leaves and flowers edible in salads.
Natal plum (carissa grandiflora)
Thorny evergreen shrub to 2m; grows in dry subtropics/tropics. Ripe
fruits eaten raw; preferably made to conserves. Substitute for
cranberry sauce. Attractive ornamental shrub; values as a hedge in
south africa.
Oaks (quercus spp.)
Mostly large, spreading deciduous trees up to 40m, although some are
smaller or even prostrate. Long lived, many are fast growing and bear
acorns early. Large habitat range from dryland soils to acid swamps;
temperate to subtropical climates (most species are well-suited to
cold areas). Good germination, although acorns sometimes lose
viability in a year. Yield is variable, usually alternating years.
Uses: Acorns as animal forage, high carbohydrate. Most valuable for
pigs, although crushed acorns and leaf mould are fed to poultry.
Species used are "sweet", or low in tannin. Excellent hardwood timber
and firewood. Some species used for wine vats to aid maturation
process. Oaks offer shelter for stock and are good fire sector species
(poor burners when "green"). Leaves are used for animal bedding.
Following are a list of some species suited for particular uses:
Human food: Acorns contain tannin which can be removed from ground
acorn meal by leaching in streams and cooking. Some sweeter acorns
are: Q. ilex var. ballota (a cultivar of the holm oak) which is the
best old world eating acorn used in Portugal and Spain. Q. alba (white
oak) a common North American tree with acorns boiled like chestnuts by
Native Americans.
Fodder: Best is Q. ilex (holm oak) and Q. suber (cork oak); mixed
stands grown in Portugal for pig forage, with very high yields on
alternate years. Such mixed oak forests yield 68kg/hectare per year
over a ten year period. Other fodder species are Q. prinoides
(chinquapain oak), Q. alba (white oak), and Q. minor (post oak).
Timber: Most oak trees produce superior quality timber. Some important
species are Q. robur (English oak) used for centuries in buildings and
ships; Q. petraea (durmast oak); Q. alba (white oak), also used for
barrel making; and Q. rubra (red oak), used extensively for furniture.
Cork: Quercus suber, the cork oak, is cultivated in Spain and Portugal
for wine/champagne bottle stoppers, insulation, flooring, etc. Once
mature, cork can be harvested every 8-10 years without harming the
tree. A hectare of cork oak will yield an average of 240kg/year.
Other uses: Q. mongolica is the host plant for the tusser silkworm of
China and Japan; these are semi-domesticated and produce a
high-quality silk. Quercus velutina (black or quercitrin oak) yields a
permanent yellow dye from its inner bark. Q. ilex and Q. alba are used
for high-quality charcoal production.
Olive (olea europaea)
Small evergreen tree to 8m; long lived (up to 700 years). Dryland
plant of mediterranean region, not suited to maritime or cold regions
(although fairly frost-hardy, fruit needs hot summers to ripen).
Propagation by cuttings; olives bear in 4-6 years. Can grow on thin,
rocky soils, but yield is best on fertile soils.
Uses: Fruit is eaten green or ripe; green olives must be soaked in a
lye solution before pickling to remove bitterness. Excellent oil crop:
fruit picked when fully ripe (but not soft), then crushed to a mash
and placed in cloth bags. These are pressed and the oil collected.
Good olive varieties yield as much as 30% oil. The remaining pulp
after pressing can be fed to stock. Olives trees are a good shelter
and occasional forage for stock.
Palms
Woody perennials with many uses, from human food, oils, sugar, animal
fodder, structural material, thatch, and fiber. Most useful palms grow
in dry or wet tropics. Have deep tap roots, and many are successfully
used in agroforestry (crops and pasture) as they do not compete for
water. Date palm (phoenix dactylifera, p. sylvestris, p. canariensis):
Dioecious, need one male to 60-80 females. Staple food yielding dates;
old trees are tapped for toddy (sugar). Inferior species of dates can
be used for animal fodder or possible fuel crop. Borassus palms
(borassus spp.): Palmyra (b. flabellifer) tapped for sugar in India
(produces 170 pounds of nectar per acre, or 40,000 liters of alcohol
fuel). Timber is hard and durable. Others are b. aethiopican, b.
sundaicus. Doum or gingerbread palm (hypaene thebaicus):
multi-stemmed, branched palm to 15m, bearing heavy crops of edible
hard-shelled fruits. Staple food and fodder crop of arid lands, mainly
Egypt. Coconut (cocos nucifera): Essential plant of many tropical
island cultures. Yields coir for rope, thatch, oil, drinking "water",
nut meats, and sugar from flower stalks. Chilean wine palm (jubaea
spectabilis): Temperate zone palm yielding 410 liters of sweet sap
annually. Cold hardy. Fruits with edible nuts, useful for fodder.
Peach palm or pejibaye (bactris (guilielma) gasipaes): a spiny-trunked
plant; staple of central and south america exceeding maize production
in protein and carbohydrate yields per acre. Fruits chestnut-like,
boiled and dried as food. Also for poultry and pig forage. Hardy only
in frost-free zones.
Passionfruits (passiflora spp.)
Evergreen perennials; vigorous growers (sometimes rampant as they will
naturalize and climb in forest trees).
Uses: Edible fruit, poultry and pig fodder, sun deflector to shade
walls, used to cover (and keep cool) water tanks and sheds.
Ornamental, with showy flowers. Black passionfruit (passiflora edulis)
is a vigorous climber of subtropical to tropical areas. Cultivated on
fixed fence trellis, cropping for 4-8 years (some varieties last
longer). Frost tender in early growth. Banana passionfruit (p.
mollisma) is grown in temperate maritime climates; will withstand
moderate frost once established. Yields from late autumn to early
summer, and is valuable poultry fodder (fruit seeds). An under-used
fruit for winter fresh fruit, more easily peeled than p. edulis.
Lillikoi (p. alata) is a hardy vigorous grower of the subtropics and
tropics; plant two or more for best cross-fertilization. Delicious
fruit. Other edible passionfruits of the tropics are granadilla (p.
quadrangularis), sweet granadilla (p. ligularis), and water-lemon (p.
laurifolia).
Paulownia (paulownia tomentosa, p. fargesii)
Quick growing drought-resistant deciduous tree to 15m. Mild temperate
to subtropical range, with p. fargesii in the cooler climates. Grown
extensively in China. Has deep taproot and will not compete with
pasture, crops. Has large leaves, but with some pruning and wide
spading allows light through.
Uses: Timber crop for fine furniture, boxes, chests. Used in
agroforestry to shelter cereal, soybean, and cotton crops; wood taken
in 6-12 years (pruning and shaping necessary to maintain good log
growth). Leaves contain nutrients, can be used as stock fodder and
mulch.
Persimmon (diospryros kaki, d. virginiana)
Many varieties, especially in Japan. Deciduous tree to 15m, yielding
fruit in winter. Temperate to subtropical climates. Fairly
frost-hardy; does well in most well-drained soils. Japanese persimmon
(d. kaki) does best in full sun, while american persimmon (d.
virginiana) can tolerate partial shade.
Uses: Fruit, eaten when over-ripe (harvested when hard and ripened
indoors). Fallen fruit is an excellent pig and stock food. Ornamental
plant, with autumn color (spectacular red fruits on leafless tree). A
good front yard plant, along with other such ornamental edibles as
nasturtium, kale, almond, peach, currant, etc.
Pigeon pea (cajanus cajan)
Leguminous woody shrub of dry subtropics and tropics; frost sensitive.
Quick growing short lived perennial, sometimes grown as an annual,
1-4m tall.
Uses: Major tropical food grain, green seeds and pods used as
vegetables. Ripe seeds for flour, dhal, sprouts (22% protein, 10%
calcium). Important forage plant eaten green or made into hay or
silage. Sometimes planted in pastures as a browse plant. Ideal
windbreak and shade for vegetables; leaves cut for mulch on garden
beds. Shade tree plantations (coffee, cacao) and vanilla production in
India. Useful windbreak hedge species.
Prickly pear (opuntia spp.)
Spiny cacti with flat, fleshy pads grown in dry subtropics/tropics.
Like full sun; grow to 2m. Propagated by planting pads into the
ground. Will grow in poor soil, drought-resistant. Caution: can be
invasive, birds carry seeds.
Uses: Fruit, eaten fresh or stewed (numerous hard seeds); used gloves
to harvest, then scrub off fine spines and peel. Seeds are nutritious
and are sometimes ground for animal feed. Young opuntia pads are
de-spined and sold in mexican, indian markets for human food; pads
also fed to stock (spines are burnt off). Good barrier hedges. Some
varieties are: mission prickly pear (o. mega-cantha), common prickly
pear (o. ficus-indica), o. undulata, o. streptacantha.
Prunus spp.
These deciduous species contains some of the most important temperate
fruits: apricot, plum, almond, peach, nectarine, cherry. Many
cultivars, some miniature varieties. Most are small trees and shrubs
1-10m tall. Mediterranean climates, warm dry summers best.
Semi-tolerant of drought.
Uses: Mainly for fruit, usually eaten fresh or in conserves, juice.
Almonds are a storable product. Some species such as damson plum (p.
instilia), sour cherry (p. cerasus), and common plum (p. domestica)
will form thickets, making an excellent hedge for windbreak, wildlife
habitat. All species good bee forage.
Queensland arrowroot (canna edulis)
A clump-forming perennial of the subtropics and tropics (originally
from the americas). One of the hardiest arrowroot plants, can grow in
temperate areas where there is little frost (needs warm, sunny
position).
Uses: Tubers cooked for a sweetish taste, though inferior to sweet
potato due to fiber. Arrowroot flour. Animal forage, especially pigs.
Also used as a garden windbreak and weed barrier with comfrey and
lemongrass, and can be chopped occasionally for garden mulch.
Quinoa (chenopodium quinoa)
Hardy annual to 1-2m, grown in south american andes; cold temperate
dryland. Drought-tolerant. Sow in spring after frost. Nutritious grain
food, tasty greens. Grind seeds into flour or remove bitterness of
whole grains by soaking; use boiled or in soup. Chicken fodder. Other
useful chenopodium spp. for human food and chicken fodder are fat hen
or lamb's quarters (c. album) with calcium rich leaves for salads,
seeds relished by poultry and birds, and good king henry (c.
bonushenricus), young plant eaten like asparagus and spinach.
Rosella (hibiscus sabdariffa)
Fast growing annual shrub of subtropics and tropics, grows 1.5-2m
tall. Tolerates most soils, must be well-drained. Needs long summer
growing period.
Uses: Fruits stewed or used in desserts and drinks, conserves. Tenders
leaves and young stems used as a salad or steamed; leaves are chopped
as a savory herb (for curries). Another useful plant of the hibiscus
family is okra (h. esculentus) with the tender pods boiled or sliced
and fried. Used in soups and gumbos.
Salsify (tragopogon porrifolius)
Temperate biennial clumping plant to .6m, often planted as annual.
Cultivated for its oyster-flavored edible taproot (harvested autumn,
winter, spring). Young leaves and flowers edible in spring and summer.
Scarlet runner bean (phaseolus cocineus, p. multiflorus)
Herbaceous perennial (grown as an annual in cold climates) with thick
root stock. Tolerates some frost; grown in mild coastal or island
climates. Needs cool periods to fruit heavily.
Uses: Edible young pods, beans fresh or dried. Good trellis plant for
shade; bright red ornamental flowers. Tubers are boiled as a vegetable
in central american highlands. Other useful phaseolus are tepary bean
(p. acutifolius), a high-value dryland species; and lima bean (p.
lunulatus), a tropical low hedge plant on fences.
Sesbania (sesbania bispinosa, s. aculeata, s. grandiflora)
Fast growing (4-6m/year) short lived subtropical and tropical legume
tree 6-9m high. Drought-resistant. Easily propagated by seed.
Uses: Seeds used for poultry fodder and leaves for forage. S. aculeata
used in asia as traditional green manure crop and border plant
(nitrogen-fixer) planted together with rice. S. grandiflora grown in
the mekong delta in home gardens for its leaves and flowers used for
human food and livestock and poultry. Planted along rice paddies,
yields up to 55 tons of green material per hectare. Used as temporary
shade trees in nurseries. Windbreak in citrus and coffee, banana.
Living fence and firewood source. Used for large scale reforestation
of bare land outside forests in indonesia.
Siberian pea shrub (caragana spp.)
Tall leguminous shrubs 1-5m, forms thickets. Caragana arborescens is
the only species that grows into a tree. Very cold and wind hardy,
growing from arctic circle to warm, dry climates. Seeds burst out of
6cm long pods, and should be collected in bags before completely ripe
if needed for seed.
Uses: Windbreak and hedge shrub for very cold climates. Seeds are
excellent poultry forage food. Wildlife habitat, sheltering small
animals in the thickets. C. arborescens leaves produce a blue dye.
Nitrogen-fixer.
Stone pine (pinus pinea and other spp.)
Confier up to 10-30m tall, slow growing and long lived. Suits cool
areas and can grow on exposed, dry rocky sites.
Uses: Pine nuts or kernels are rich in oil, have very good flavor.
Cones are collected when mature but unopened; opened in summer sun or
dryer and nuts are shaken free. Many species have excellent edible
nuts, including pinyon pine (p. edulis), coulters pine (p. coulteri),
p. cembra (europe), p. gerardiana (afghanistan).
Sunflower (helianthus annus)
Annual plants .7-3.5m tall, temperate to tropical climates (not suited
to the wet tropics, however). Drought-resistant but do best when
watered at intervals. Grow on a wide range of good draining soils.
Release root exudate, some crops do not grow next to them.
Uses: High-value protein seed for human and livestock, especially
poultry and pigeons. Whole heads may be given to stock. Salad and
cooking oil made from seeds, with seedcake residue fed to stock. Also
used in blends with linseed for paints and varnishes. Lubricant and
lighting. Stalks and hulls are mulch, bedding for livestock.
Sunn hemp (crotalaria juncea)
Tall shrubby annual 1-3m subtropics and tropics, frost-sensitive.
Quick growing large leaved legume, hardy and drought-resistant.
Uses: Cultivated for fibers used as twine, paper, nets, sacking
(better than jute). Root exudate said to control nematodes in the
soil. Easily grown in gardens, with leaves used for mulch. Crotalaria
brevidens used as annual fodder in tropical africa. Green manure crop,
often grown in rotation with rice, maize, cotton; and interplanted
with coffee, pineapple. When thickly-sown, will smother all weeds,
even vigorous grass weeds.
Sunroot/Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus tuberosus)
Tall perennial which dies back to roots, 1-3m tall. Propagated by
tubers. Yields are often 4-5 times that of potatoes. Hardy, wide
climatic range from temperate regions to tropics. Will tolerate poor
soils. Like sunflowers, sunroots release a root exudate which is toxic
to some plants.
Uses: Human food; tubers eaten as a vegetable. Animal forage; dry
stalks and leaves eaten by goats, tubers by pigs. Fast garden
windbreak; also used to break up hard soils. Leaves used for mulch in
gardens after tubers harvested.
Sweet potato (ipomoea batatas)
Perennial twining plant, often treated as an annual. Temperate to
tropical tubers usually planted on ridges or mounds (cannot stand
waterlogging). Propagated by stem cuttings in tropics; tuber sprouts
in temperate climates. Needs frost-free growing period of 4-6 months.
Uses: Important food source, eaten boiled or baked. Used for canning,
drying, flour manufacture, and as a source of starch, glucose, syrup,
and alcohol. Also fed to livestock. Vines are widely used as fodder
for stock. Grown in subtropics as a ground cover for orchards, but
must occasionally be slashed from tree trunks. Dies back in frost.
Taro (colocasia esculentus)
Tropical wet culture plants with over 1000 cultivars. Grown either in
wetland terraces with azolla fern (for nitrogen fixation) or on
mulched and irrigated plots. Staple food of the tropics. Large root is
eaten, although some taros are grown for their leaves. The leaves of
many taros are poisonous.
Taupata (coprosma repens)
Also called new zealand mirror plant. Large evergreen shrub 2-3m with
shiny leaves. Dioecious (separate female and male plants). Easily
grown from cuttings. Temperate climates, wind hardy and resistant to
salt spray, drought, and fire. Common ornamental seaside plant in new
zealand and tasmania.
Uses: Hedgerow plant and fire retardant. Fruit and seeds are excellent
poultry forage. Leaves are eagerly eaten by sheep, horses, cows.
Pruned clippings make a good mulch or compost.
Tagasaste (chamaecytisus palmensis)
Note: Previously named tree lucerne (cytisus proliferus).
Nitrogen-fixing legume tree 6-10m, living for more than 30 years. Easy
to grow from seed (scarify or pour boiling water over seeds and soak).
Tolerant of poor soils, drought, wind. Originated in dry mediterranean
type climate, but does well in cool temperate areas withstanding light
frosts. Tagasaste recovers after pruning or defoliation by animals.
For best results fertilize with trace elements and lop branches
regularly (either by hand or animal browsing) to give a more bush
foliage. Seed can be direct drilled into pasture, but plants should be
protected from stock for up to 3 years (or stock let in for brief
periods to graze). If sheep ringbark trees, cut to the ground to
encourage new growth; this will form thickets more resistant to sheep
damage.
Uses: Foliage an important protein-rich fodder for stock during
drought and at the end of summer. Bee forage, many small white
flowers. Chickens eat seeds. Windbreak hedge. Nurse plant surrounding
frost-sensitive trees in early years. Excellent cut mulch, tree can be
lopped 3-4 times in summer.
Tamarillo or tree tomato (cyphomandra betacea)
Short lived shrub 3-6m of the tomato family. Sown from seed or
propagated by cuttings from 1 or 2 year old wood. Yields in two years.
Subtropical, marginally suited to cool areas (placed in a sheltered
sunny position- will tolerate mild frost). Well-drained soil.
Uses: Fruit high in vitamin c, used fresh stewed, conserves.
Commercially grown in new zealand, high value crop.
Trapa nut (trapa natans, t. incisa)
Also called indian water chestnut. Several species temperate to
tropical regions. Aquatic perennial floats in water 2-3 feet deep.
Needs high nutrients.
Uses: Important starchy food plant, rich in iron. Flour like arrowroot.
Walnut (juglans regia, j. nigra)
Spreading deciduous trees to 30m, long lived. Temperate climate, cold
areas. Yields best on deep well-drained rich soils. Release root
exudate which inhibits some understorey plants, although pasture does
well.
Uses: Both species are important for nut production, timber, specialty
woods. Husk produce a dye. Black walnut (j. nigra) rootstock is
resistant to armillaria root ro; all commercial english stands are
grafted. Black walnut is a particularly sought-after wood, with very
high prices paid for good, straight timber (yields in 40-50 years).
White cedar (melia azedarach)
Short lived (20 years) deciduous tree 9-12m tall. Suited to a wide
range of warm climates, tropics to mediterranean.
Uses: Fast growing shade tree, good for afforestation. Valuable
timber, resistant to termite attack (does not need to be treated) and
used for poles, furniture, and roofing material. Fuelwood. Coppices
well, trees lopped for green manure. Leaves, bark and fruits are
credited with insect-repellant qualities. Extracts of the leaves are
used as a spray against grasshoppers, and leaves placed in books and
wool clothing to protect against moths. Caution: Fruits are very
poisonous.
Willows (salix spp.)
Around 300 species, mainly spreading deciduous trees, water-loving.
Mostly temperate climate, easily propagated from stem cuttings. May
become naturalized or rampant, especially along streams.
Uses: Salix viminalis (osier willow) and other species used for
basketry. Long 1-2 year old shoots are cut from pollarded willow
stumps, or from thickets of willow stems (trunk cut at ground level).
S. matsudana is used in new zealand for erosion control. Weeping and
pussy willows (s. discolor), among others, are excellent bee forages.
Willows are fire retardants (steam rather than burn). S. matsudana
var. tortuosa has lush foliage for emergency sheep and deer fodder
during drought; one hectare of willows can maintain 1000 sheep for 6
days (data from agroforestry in australia and new zealand).
Winged bean (psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
Leguminous twining vine, growing to over 3m when supported. Valuable
nutritious tropical garden bean.
Uses: Edible pods, young leaves, shoots, flowers as vegetables;
immature tuberous roots eaten raw or cooked. Very high protein
con
Kudos to anyone already growing many of these plants!
-
Plants with asterix * next to their names are tropical/subtropical...
1). Plants with food products from roots, tubers, or shoots
*arracacha, asparagus, bamboos, beet, *cassava, carrot, celeriac, chicory, choko, dandelion, *yam beans (PDF), onion, parsnip, radish, sunroot (Jerusalem artichoke), potato, *taro, turnip, salsify, *queensland arrowroot, peanut, scarlet runner bean, duck potato (PDF)
2). Plants giving storable food products
A). nuts
almond, walnut/black walnut, *bunya pine, butternut, chestnut (chinese), hazel, filbert, *macadamia, ginkgo, pecan, *pistachio, oaks, pine nuts
. fruits (suitable for local drying and storing)apple, apricot, fig, jujube, peach, prune plum, cherry, pear, *mango, *pineapple, *banana (small varieties), grape (raisin varieties)
C). flours and meals
carob, honey locust (PDF), sweet chestnut, white mulberry (PDF), pigeon pea, *indian water chestnut, *queensland arrowroot
D). cooking and salad oils
almond, beech, hazel, olive, live oak, walnut, mustard, grapeseed, safflower, rape, sunflower
3). Fresh fruits
A). temperate
alpine strawberry, loquat, apple, medlar, apricot, mulberry, blueberry, nectarine, cape gooseberry, pear, peach, checker berry, kiwifruit, persimmon (PDF), plum, feijoa, fig, grape, grapefruit, strawberry, strawberry guava, jujube, cherry, tamarillo, berries (black, logan, boysen, red), banana, passionfruit, black/red currants
. subtropical/tropicalmango, guava, carambola, lychee, sapote/mammey sapote, papaya, prickly pear, granadilla, passionfruit, jakfruit, rambutan, mangosteen, naranjilla, jaboticaba, pepino, custard apple, natal plum, pineapple, citrus spp.
4). Fruit used in cooking, preserves, and wine
cranberry, quince, cornelian cherry, pomegranate, elderberry (PDF), huckleberry, barberry, cumquat
5). Fruit high in vitamin c
*barbados cherry, rose (rosa rugosa), *guava, citrus, *rosella
6). Animal forages and feeds
A). nuts, pods, seeds
almond, beech, oaks, honey locust, hazel, mesquites, taupata, siberian pea shrub (PDF), tagasaste (PDF), walnut, hickories, *ice cream bean, *pigeon pea, quinoa, *winged bean, acacias, *leucaena, amaranth, *sesbania, carob
. foliagebamboo, chicory, comfrey, tagasaste, sunroot, *lab-lab bean, tree medic, *sesbania, willow, *winged bean, choko/chayote, lespedeza, lucerne, lupin, pampas grass, vigna spp., *leucaena, *pigeon pea, taupata, kurrajong, dandelion
C). roots, tubers, rhizomes
*arracacha, sunroot, *yam, comfrey, arrowhead, duck potato, *queensland arrowroot, *yam beans, chicory, choko, sweet potato
7). Edible flowers for salads
daylily, calendula, black locust, *sesbania, salsify, zucchini, rose (rosa rugosa, r. canina), borage, feijoa, nasturtium, dandelion, sweet violet, *winged bean
8 ). Hedge plants
taupata, alder, hazel, autumn olive, laurelberry, coprosma, pomegranate (closely spaced/clipped), damson plum, sour cherry, clumping bamboos, hawthorn, russian olive, elderberry, pampas grass, *queensland arrowroot
9). Animal barrier plants (spiny or unpalatable dense thickets)
euphorbia spp., gorse, honey locust, (prickly pear) cactus, hawthorn, sloe, natal plum
10). Useful perennial vines
A). deciduous
grape, kiwifruit, scarlet trumpet vine, virginia creeper, wisteria, scarlet runner bean, *yam beans
. evergreen*passionfruit, *vanilla, jasmine, choko/chayote, *lab-lab bean, ivy
11). Pest control plants
*sunn hemp (nematodes), marigold (tagetes spp.) nematodes, pyrethrum daisy (broad spectrum insecticide), white cedar and neem tree (insecticide), tobacco (insecticide), derris elliptica, rhubarb (insecticide)
12). Umbelliferous plants
celery, florence fennel, dill, lovage, caraway, fennel, anise, parsnip, angelica, parsley, chervil, queen anne's lace, coriander, cumin, sweet cicely, carrot
13). Composite plants
tarragon, tansy, wormwood, artichoke, sunroot, southernwood, chamomile, daisies, salsify, sunflower
14). Water or wetland plants
azolla (PDF), watercress, mint, water lily, wild rice, duckweed, willows, highbush cranberry, cumbungi/cattail, reed (phragmites spp.), rush (scirpus spp.), water chestnut, *kang kong, *lotus, rice, duck potato (arrowhead), cranberry
15). Bee forage
almond, apple, bergamot, lavender, loganberry, lucerne/alfafa, blackberry, black currant, apricot, black locust, leatherwood, clover, peach, pear, raspberry, rosemary, sage, sloe, sour cherry, pride of madeira, osier willow, lupin, mesquites, mints, borage, cherry plum, comfrey, dandelion, tagasaste, gooseberry, citrus spp., hawthorn, hysop, laurelberry, some eucalypts
16). Species for very dry sites
almond, black locust, burr oak, carob, cork oak, tagasaste, many acacia spp., pomegranate, fig, holm oak, honey locust, lavender, most aromatic herbs, mesquites, mulberry, olive, new zealand spinach, pampas grass, prickly pear, *pistachio, jujube, quandong, rosemary, stone pine, taupata
17). Legumes and other nitrogen-fixing plants (*denotes non-legume nitrogen fixer)
A). temperate
trees- tagasaste, autumn olive, *alder, albizia, tree medic, black locust, russian olive, siberian pea shrub, *ceanothus
small species- azolla (aquatic), clover, beans and peas, lupin, fenugreek, lucerne, vetch, lespedeza (PDF)
. warm/dry climatestrees- mesquite, tagasaste, casuarina, acacias, albizia
C). tropics/subtropics
trees- acacias, gliricidia, leucaena, pongamia, cassia, tipuana tipu, albizia, calliandra, sesbania, tamarind, ice cream bean tree
small species- pigeon pea, winged bean, beans and peas, lucerne, lab-lab bean, peanut, clover
Plant Descriptions
Acacias (acacia spp.)
Leguminous trees and shrubs ranging from 3-25m, species growing from
arid regions to the tropics; often spiny.
Uses: Some species are important fodder plants of drylands, with
leaves, pods, and seeds used; firewood and tiber. Nitrogen-fixing;
Fukuoka planted silver wattle (A. dealbata) in his fields to boost
production. Erosion control.
Fodder: Mulga (acacia aneura) widespread in Australian drylands,
fast-growing and palatable to stock; to 7m tall. Camel thorn
(faidherbia alibi) thorny tree to 25m; foliage and pods important
fodder yielding 135kg pods/tree in Sudan. Deciduous in wet season,
full leaf in dry. Myall (a. pendular) grows on heavy soils where no
other trees will grow (protects soil and gives shade as well as
fodder). Other fodder trees are a. salicina (native willow), a.
senegal, a. seyal.
Timber: Blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), fast-growing, long-lived, cool
climate acacia used in fine furniture (in warm climates a. melanoxylon
is a scraggly, short-lived tree). Silver wattle (a. dealbata) and
hickory wattle (a. falci-formis) also important timber trees.
Albizia (albizia lopantha, a. julibrissin)
Leguminous, evergreen, quick-growing trees with feathery leaves.
Height: 9-15m. Warm temperate to tropical climates.
Uses: Shade tree, with ornamental leaves and flowers. Windbreak if
lopped to encourage bushiness. Pioneer tree; in the tropics, chili
peppers, pineapples, banana, and fruit trees are grown under
widely-spaced albizia, providing a 3-tier productive system. Most
species are palatable to stock (a. lopantha, a. chinensis).
Nitrogen-fixing.
Alder (Alnus spa.)
Fast-growing, short-lived trees mainly forming dense
thickets. Height 10-25m. Although not legumes, are nitrogen-fixing,
and create a thick black humus. Useful if already present for rough
mulch, composting. Use as a nurse crop for other trees, provides
shelter, mulch, and nitrogen. Can eventually be cut out altogether, or
a few trees allowed to grow on for nitrogen-fixing, mulch. As firewood
it may burn too hot, but stickwood is useful. Some alnus spp. are a.
tenuifolia (mountain alder), a. crispa (downy alder).
Amaranth (amaranthus spp.)
Upright annuals to 1m of which grain amaranth (a. hypochondriacus) and
leaf amaranth (a. gangeticus) are most valuable. Grown in full sun or
even partial shade; grain amaranth needs a 90 day growing season to
set seed. Temperate areas through highland dry tropics.
Uses: Grain amaranth a high protein crop (18%); seeds eaten popped or
ground up into flour. Leaves eaten raw or cooked. Leaf amaranth grown
throughout year in warm climates; tasty leaves are bright red and
green. Valuable vitamin and mineral plant. Chicken fodder (seeds);
leaves for stock, can be turned into silage. Cover crop.
Arracacha (arracacha xanthorrhiza, a. esculenta)
Also known as peruvian parsnip. Grown in high altitude tropics to
subtropical climates. Herbaceous perennial producing large starchy
roots. Propagated by tubers.
Uses: Eaten like potatoes or cassava. Coarse main rootstocks and
mature leaves fed to animals. Young stems for salads. Excellent
understorey crop.
Asparagus (asparagus officinalis)
Perennial rootstock with new edible shoots each year yielding well for
at least 20 years if manured and watered. Yields after 3 years in
spring. Easily propagated in winter by crown division. Naturalizes
along sandy watercourses, though does not produce large stalks as does
manured asparagus.
Uses: Human food, bank stabilizers for sandy streams. Temperate to
subtropical climates.
Autumn Olive and Russian Olive (elaeagnus umbellata, e.
angustifolia, and other spp.)
Fast growing nitrogen fixing shrubs to 4.5m and 20m respectively.
Autumn olives forms thickets or hedges when clipped. Tolerates poor
soil, drought. Likes full sun although other species will tolerate
partial to full shade. Temperate and cold area plants.
Uses: Good windbreak and erosion control plant. Edible berries for
birds and poultry, cold area chicken forage plant. Ornamental screen
hedges. Silverberry (e. commutata) and cherry elaeagnus (e.
multiflora) also important wildlife, poultry berry plants.
Azolla (azolla spp.)
Free floating small water ferns (red or green) which contain a
nitrogen fixing bacteria (anabaena azollae). All climates, although
dies back in hot weather.
Uses: Duck fodder. Nitrogen mulch for rice or taro crop for nitrogen.
Can be skimmed off surface of pounds and used as a rich mulch on
adjacent crops; or ponds drained, azolla turned under, and crops
grown.
Bamboo (1250 species)
Two main types are running bamboos and clumping bamboos. Generally the
tropical/subtropical varieties are clumpers and the temperate
varieties are runners. In the case of runner bamboos, care must be
taken so that they do not become rampant; they do not cross water, so
may be contained on an island in a dam. Bamboos grown from the equator
to about 40 degrees north and south. Propagation is by division of
clumps, rhizome cuttings, and basal cane cuttings. Bamboo grows best
in rich organic soil with plenty of water.
Uses: Human food (clumps are hilled to produce large, tender shoots)
and foliage as animal forage (some species such as arundinaria
racemosa, sasa palmata). Structural: stakes, fishpoles, spears (small
canes), building frameworks, concrete reinforcing (big canes). Clumps:
windbreak, steep bank stabilizers. Other: utensils, mulch, artisanry.
Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia)
Deciduous tree 10-20m thin foliage lives up to 200 years. Grows
rapidly and forms thickets by root suckers (very aggressive). Very
hardy and suited to cool areas, poor soils.
Uses: Pasture improver on very poor country (nitrogen fixer), erosion
control, windbreak tree, bee forage, seed for poultry, and timber
suited to beams, tools, and shafts. Poles last over 20 years untreated
in the ground.
Blackberry, Raspberry (rubus spp.)
Cultivars include boysenberry, loganberry. Vigorously grown prickly
thickets (some thornless varieties have been developed). High value
commercial crop on trellis. Blackberry easily becomes rampant, spread
by seeds and tip-rooting. Can be marooned on islands. Blackberry (r.
laciniatus) has a thornless variety (oregon thornless) which is best
for gardens. Loganberry and boysenberry are preferred cultivars, with
very large berries. May need netting against birds. Bee forage.
Blueberry, Huckleberry, Cranberry (vaccinium spp.)
Deciduous shrubs from 2.5cm to 3.6m tall, cool temperate to
subtropical climates. Tolerate partial shade or full sun.
Uses: Understorey berry crop. Most species good bee forage. High bush
blueberry (v. corymbosum) grows to 1.2-3.6m and is grown as a
commercial crop, needs to be netted against birds. Low bush blueberry
(v. angusifolium) can be used as a groundcover (8-20cm), avoid frost
pockets. Huckleberry (v. membranaceum, v. ovatum) are not commercially
grown for berries, but these are tasty for human use; also poultry
forage. Evergreen huckleberry produces best in partial shade. Species
grow 30cm-3m tall. Cranberry (v. oxcoccus) is about 25cm tall, it is
an evergreen prostrate undershrub and grows well in peat bogs, with
soil pH of 3.2 to 4.5. A constant water supply is necessary for good
fruiting, but plants should not be swamped. Rich humus and thick
mulches are ideal. Avoid planting in known frost pockets, fruits must
ripen before hard frosts. High value commercial crop.
Borage (borago officinalis)
An upright self seeding annual to .6m at maturity. Can be grown in
full sun or partial shade, tolerates poor soils but needs regular
watering. Easy to propagate in large quantities, sow seed in spring.
Temperate climate.
Uses: Good bee forage with a long flowering season. Leaves and flowers
in salads. Compost/manure tea with comfrey: rich in potash and
calcium, breaks down very quickly. Medicinal properties:
anti-inflammatory.
Broad bean (vicia faba)
Annual legume (.5-1m), temperate to subtropical climates, likes full
sun but grows well in cloudy maritime climates over winter.
Uses: Human food- young leaves, pods, beans (fresh or dried). Also
used as stock fodder. Cover crop over garden beds, fields; green
manure crop and nitrogen fixer, with crop cut and used for mulch
before flowering (nitrogen stays in the soil).
Cape gooseberry (physalis peruviana)
A perennial tender creeping bush of the tomato family (solanaceae)
with small greenish yellow fruits surrounded by a papery calyx or
husk. Fruits ripen in late summer and are used fresh or stewed. Used
in mexico as a hot sauce when mixed with chillies and onions. Easily
frost damaged, grown as an annual in cold temperate climates.
Carob (ceratonia siliqua)
A long lived tree 5-15m grown for its sugary pods. A tree of the
mediterranean, it does best in dry temperate climates and can tolerate
poor soil conditions. Frost damages flowers and young fruit but not
the trees; very wet weather in autumn can rot the ripening pods. A
leguminous tree, although does not fix nitrogen.
Uses: Human food- ground meal is a chocolate or coffee substitute,
widely used in health food products. Pods as stock feed for energy and
protein concentrate (ground as meal or fed whole to large animals).
Yields in mediterranean climates are 45-225kg/tree. The seeds yield a
gum with water-absorbing qualities used in cosmetic and chemical
industries.
Cassava (manihot esculenta)
Lowland tropical crop with starchy tubers. Widely used in africa,
south pacific, latin america. Grown on ridges or mounds interplanted
with annual food crops. Can withstand neglect, grows in nutrient poor
soils, tolerates drought (except after propagation). Can be kept in
the ground until required.
Uses: Eaten (after peeling) boiled or baked. Dried slices may be kept
for several months; cassava flour is made by grinding these dried
chips. Fermented pulp is eaten in west africa. Starch or tapioca is
used for puddings, biscuits, and confectionary.
Chestnut (castanea mollissima, c. sativa)
Large spreading deciduous tree to 30m, long lived. Grafted trees yield
in 7-9 years. Temperate mediterranean climates tolerate dry
conditions. Like well drained soils. Need cross pollination for best
results. May not bear well in climates with cool summers.
Uses: As food: spanish or sweet chestnut (c. sativa) important
commercial crop in europe, while chinese chestnut (c. mollissima)
grown in US because of resistance to blight fungus. Chestnuts are
eaten whole, roasted and husked, or ground for sweet flour, rich in
starch. High grade stock fodder, especially for pigs.
Chicory (cichorium intybus)
Herbaceous perennial long used as a vegetable in europe and the
orient, grows from .6m to 1.6m. Likes full sun and grows from
temperate to subtropical regions. Naturalizes in fields and on
disturbed soils.
Uses: Bee forage, early and long flowering. Roots roasted for
coffee-like beverage. Mineral rich leaves (from deep taproot mining
the soil) excellent component in pasture as forage crop; improves milk
quality and quantity. Medicinal (both human and animal); used for
rheumatism, eczema, blood diseases.
Chinese water chestnut (eleocharis dulcis)
Aquatic rush with edible culms, grown in shallows or damp mud.
Subtropics/tropics, can be grown wherever there are 8 frost free
months. May need to be netted against ducks when green shoots are
emerging. Caution: As with many aquatic plants, these may accumulate
heavy metals so make sure pond water is not polluted (or use these to
help clean up water, do not harvest).
Uses: Valuable human food, high in carbohydrate, uses extensively in asia.
Citrus (citrus spp.)
Wide range of evergreen shrubs or trees to 10m, including lemon, lime,
cumquat, orange, grapefruit, mandarin. Dry warm temperate
(mediterranean) climates to tropics. In marginal temperate areas,
place in warm, sunny position. Tree can withstand light frost, but
frost at -2 degrees celsius kills flowers and young fruit. Need
shelter in high wind areas.
Uses: Fresh fruit or juice, marmalade, concentrate for cordials. High
vitamin c source, especially if white pith is also eaten. Waste pulp
fed to cattle. Peel is source of essential oils (used in flavoring and
perfumes), also provides pectin.
Choko or chayote (sechium edule)
Herbaceous scrambler, vigorous perennial on thick rootstock.
Subtropics to tropics, not hardy to frost.
Uses: Roots used for starch, boiled or baked; young shoots eaten as a
salad, steamed. Most commonly eaten is the fruit, a large bland
vegetable which can be baked, steamed, or fried with other vegetables.
Used to smother less vigorous plants such as lantana, and is a good
roof covering for summer. Pig and poultry food.
Comfrey (symphytum officinale)
Herbaceous perennial to 1m high. Dies down in winter, except in mild
climates. Easily propagated by root division; any part of the root
crown will grow. Clumps of comfrey will stay in one place, but if dug
or rototilled will spread quickly. High yields on fertile, watered
country. 20-25% crude protein.
Uses: Excellent bee forage. Stock fodder if fed in limited quantities
(overfeeding has been shown to cause some liver damage in animals).
Medicinal herb; roots dried, powdered and used in ointments for
bruises, arthritis, broken bones. Vegetable source of vitamin B12, and
can be used sparingly in salads, cooking. Rich source of mulch (high
potash) and is combined with other leaves and manures for
nutrient-rich "manure tea".
Currants and gooseberries (ribes spp.)
Small deciduous shrubs .5-1m tolerating partial shade; good hardy
understorey bush tolerating neglect. Hardwood cuttings taken in autumn
root easily. Bear 10-20 years if properly cared for. Mostly temperate
plants.
Uses: Tasty smal fruits which can be eaten raw or made into juice,
wine, jelly. Wildlife forage food, including birds and poultry (plants
may need to be netted if used entirely for human food). Edible
species: black currant (r. nigrum), golden currant (r. aureum), red
currant (r. rubrum). Excellent bee forage. Also ornamental, especially
golden currant and red-flowering currant (r. sanguineum). Gooseberries
(r. grossularia) grow successfully in rock crevices, like well-drained
positions.
Cumbungi or cattail (typha latifolia, t. orientalis)
Dense, herbaceous perennial to 4m, grows in full sun or shade around
pond edges. Caution: Can be invasive weed. Temperate to subtropical
climates.
Uses: Shoots edible, used like asparagus. Roots are peeled, cooked or
grated raw. Seeds, roasted, have nutty flavor. Animal forage, mainly
roots, especially for pigs. Weaving material, basketry. Duck and water
fowl habitat. Seed head is of downy material, can be used as tinder.
Extracts pollutants from water.
Dandelion (taraxacum officinale)
Small perennial herb with yellow flowers early spring to late autumn.
Grows in temperate to subtropical areas and is a common weed in lawns,
pastures. Grows in full sun or shade.
Uses: Leaves, roots, flowers eaten: roots are used as a coffee
substitute. Flowers can be used to make wine. Important bee forage
with early and long flowering, high pollen yield. Forage crop,
improves milk quality and quantity, good mix with lucerne.
Daylily (hemerocallis fulva)
Herbaceous perennial to .6m temperate to subtropical climates.
Tolerates partial shade useful understorey plant.
Uses: Edible shoots, flowerbuds, flowers, tubers. Low-maintenance
plant, erosion control on hillsides. Ornamental. Grow under trees as
part of guild with marigolds, dil, nasturtium, etc.
Duckweed (lemna minor)
Perennial floating aquatic of ponds (likes quiet water), temperate
climates. May completely cover a pond and exclude light.
Uses: Duck, goose, fish forage, may have potential as chicken, pig
food. Can be skimmed off ponds and used as high nutrient mulch
material. May take up heavy metals in polluted waters.
Elderberry (sambucus nigra, s. canadensis)
Deciduous shrub to 6m, temperate climate, tolerates full sun to
partial shade. Easily propagated from cuttings.
Uses: Hedgerow shrub, windbreak. Ripe berries make wine, dye,
conserves (should not be eaten raw). Flowers fermented with lemon
juice and peel as a beverage, or infused in hot water for respiratory
inflammations. Caution: Leaves, roots, stems, and unripe fruit may be
poisonous to humans and to stock.
Feijoa (feijoa sellowiana)
Also called pineapple guava, although not a true guava. Evergreen
shrub 4-6m. Warm temperate areas to subtropics, grows in cool climates
but fruits only in hot summers (place in sunny location). Needs
shelter from wind. Grown commercially in New Zealand. If growing from
seed, notice round tips on leaves in nursery beds; these indicate
large-fruited forms and should be selected. Yields 3-4 years from
cuttings (taken in summer).
Uses: Fruit for dessert, conserves. Petals of flowers are very sweet
and used in salads. Ornamental.
Fennel (foeniculum vulgare, f. dulce)
An upright self-seeding biennial or short-lived hardy perennial with
umbel-shaped flowers in summer which attract beneficial insects
(insectary plant). Grows in poor soils, naturalizes along roadsides in
temperate climates. Grows both in full sun or full shade.
Uses: Seeds for culinary purposes: seeds and roots medicinally.
Foliage as fresh herb, and root of florence fennel (f. dulce) used in
salads (crispy like celery, but with an anise flavor). Prefers rich
garden soil. Stock fodder in controlled quantities is medicinal.
Suppresses grasses.
Fig (ficus carica)
Deciduous shrub or tree to 8m, widespread in mediterranean climates
and marginal subtropics (not too wet). Likes full sun, will shade out
anything planted underneath unless pruned. Propagated by cuttings.
Important commercial crop, eaten fresh or dried. Useful chicken and
pig forage. Mulch from dead leaves in autumn.
Filber, hazel (c. maxima, corylus avellana)
Many varieties most producing edible nuts (filberts and hazelnuts).
Small deciduous trees or thicket-forming shrubs to 6m, long lived to
150 years. Grafted varieties start yielding in 5-6 years, with peak
nut production at 15 years. Major commercial production in dry,
mediterranean countries, but also suited to cool temperate. Needs
cross-pollination. Tolerates shade, but for nut production needs sun;
yields best on an edge. Well-drained, fertile soil is best.
Use: Nuts for human food, also as an animal forage (low grade or small
nuts). Good hedgerow tree which can be coppiced for poles, stakes,
etc, may need wind shelter in first years.
Gliricidia (gliricia sepium, g. maculata)
Fast growing vigorous deciduous tree to 9m, out competes most tropical
grasses. Grows in tropical and subtropical climates, legume tree.
Uses: Widely used shade tree for banana, coffee, young coca. Can be
topped to produce material for green manuring. Tolerates repeated
coppicing and is used in alley farming and for firewood. Also useful
as a firebreak and tropical bee fodder. Durable wood for poles,
fenceposts, and stakes. Legume tree.
Guava (psidium guajava and other spp.)
Shallow-rooted shrub or small tree, 3-10m, can produce suckers.
Adaptable to wide range of soils, susceptible to frost.
Drought-tolerant. Sometimes become rampant as seeds are carried by
birds.
Uses: Fruit eaten fresh, although its numerous seeds make it best for
conserves, jellies, paste, juice. Very high vitamin c (2-5 times that
of oranges). Strawberry guava (p. littorale) hardier, marginally
suited to cool areas, place in warm, sunny position.
Ginger (zingiber officinale)
Herbaceous perennial of the humid tropics and subtropics, reaching
90cm. Easily propagated by rhizomes. Often grown commercially as an
intercrop with coconut, coffee, citrus, and turmeric (which provides
partial shade to young ginger). Rhizomes eaten fresh or preserved for
flavoring (candied, dried, and powdered).
Grape (vitis vinifera and spp.)
Long lived deciduous perennial vine, preferring some chill factor for
fruiting, but many varieties and cultivars are adapted to a wide
climatic and soil range. Planted on trellis, although in ancient times
allowed to scramble on mulberry and fig trees.
Uses: Fresh fruit, also dried (raisins), wine, juice. Young leaves are
used as a food wrapping in cooking (greek dolmas). Seeds are an
excellent cooking oil. Deciduous vines to block summer sun from
houses.
Hawthorns (crataegus spp.)
Tough, thorny, deciduous shrubs/trees 2-7m high, slow-growing but long
lived (100-300 years). Tolerate partial shade, poor soils.
Uses: Edible berries for jellies, conserves. Hedge and windbreak plant
for temperate climates, grown extensively as hedgerows in England.
Habitat for birds: shelter, nesting and food: useful for poultry. Good
bee forage. Coppice wood. Black hawthorn (c. douglasii) produces best
fruits for human consumption. English hawthorn (c. monogyma) makes a
narrow, dense hedge. Popular southern european variety is
mediterranean medlar (c. azarolus).
Hickory (carya ovata, c. laciniosa, c. ovata)
Large deciduous trees (18-45m) yielding nuts through winter to spring;
form upright cylindrical crowns. Yields often irregular, need
cross-pollination. Pecan (c. illinoensis) most important nut tree of
the genus. It needs 150-200 frost-free days, without extremes of cold
or heat, suitable for subtropics but grown even in New Zealand.
Uses: Nuts as human food: inferior nuts as forage for pigs (also for
chickens if cracked and soaked). Excellent wood for tool handles (very
tough) and charcoal (imparts flavor to hams in smoking process).
Honey Locust (gleditsia triacanthos)
Deciduous tree 6-40m, very thorny when young although thornless
cultivars have been developed (g. triacanthos inermis). Trees have
open canopy which allows clovers and pasture to be grown underneath.
Frost and drought-hardy, likes temperate regime of hot summers, cold
winters. Tolerates most soils. Although a legume tree, nitrogen-fixing
nodules have not been observed in the roots. Yields up to 110kg of
pods per tree at years 8-9, at 86 trees/hectare, pod production
equivalent to 10 tons/hectare of oat crop. Transplants easily, grows
in full sun. Seed pods need to be gathered from trees as soon as they
fall in mid-autumn and the seed scarified or boiling water poured over
them (and soaked). Select high-yielding, thornless varieties.
Uses: Pods are high in sugar (27-30%): pod and seeds 10% protein.
Excellent stock fodder, ground or whole, especially during drought or
at the end of summer pasture. Durable, quality timber. Excellent bee
forage. High sugar content means potential for fuel production,
molasses, wine.
Hops (humulus lupus)
Long lived (80-100 years) herbaceous perennial climber. Propagate from
root cuttings. Naturalizes on swamp edges and river banks, scrambles
in shrubs and trees or can be wound on hanging cords, wires.
Uses: Mainly grown for beer flavoring, but also used as a pillow
filling and mild narcotic (hops steeped in sherry to enhance calm and
sleepiness). Shoots and tips used as steamed green. Browsed by sheep,
geese when young, although sheep can be used in plantations from late
spring to winter to browse the grass beneath the hops as commercial
hop growers often cut vines to the roots.
Horseradish (armoracia rusticana)
Herbaceous perennial .5-1m growing from large, edible root. Grows best
in cool climates, likes full sun but can grow well in partial shade
and useful as an understorey plant. Propagate by root division: all
the pieces grow (like comfrey). Root eaten as a condiment. Medicinal
uses are as a diuretic, for infections, and lung problems.
Ice cream bean (inga edulis)
Medium leguminous tree to 12m, subtropical and tropical climates.
White fruit pulp from pods used in desserts (said to taste like ice
cream). Shade tree for coffee and tea plantations, mid-level
understorey tree. Nitrogen-fixer.
Jujube (ziziphus jujuba)
Also called chinese date, deciduous tree to 12m, sometimes a large
spiny dense shrub. Thrives in hot dry regions, alkaline soils, and can
withstand severe heat, drought, and some frost. Propagation by
stratified seed or root cuttings.
Uses: Fruit can be eaten fresh, dried, pickled (resembles dates).
Leaves and fruit useful fodder for stock, pigs. Trees coppice well and
produce good firewood. Leaves used to feed the tasser silkworm.
Kang Kong (ipomoea aquatica)
Aquatic floating herbaceous perennial found throughout the tropics.
Young terminal shoots and leaves used as spinach; rich in minerals and
vitamins. Vines are used as fodder for cattle, pigs, also fish food.
"In malaya it is widely grown in fish ponds by the chinese who feed it
to their pigs, whose manure is used to fertilize the fish ponds. Thus
fish, pork, and spinach are provided." (Tropical crops - Dicotyledons,
J.W. Purseglove, 1968 ).
Kiwifruit (actinidia chinensis)
Also called chinese gooseberry, large woody deciduous climber,
trellised at 2.5m forming a bramble. Dioecious (male and female
plants) although male and female may be grafted on one vine. Needs
strong trellis system. Tolerates frost, grown from temperate climates
to subtropics. Needs shelter from wind. Actinidia arguta tolerates
heavy frost, has smaller astringent fruits, but hybridized with
kiwifruit will produce sweeter yields.
Uses: Delicious fruits: for eating, wine, conserves. May be fed to
pigs and chickens if fruit set is abundant; also a high value
commercial crop. Useful deciduous shade vine for pergolas, patios.
Kurrajong and bottle tree (brachychiton populneum and b. rupestre)
Hot dry climate fodder trees suited to agroforestry. Large trees. Have
deep tap roots; do not compete with crops or pastures. Can be easily
coppiced.
Uses: Leaf fodder, especially as drought rations for sheep and cattle.
Leaves lack phosphorus, which must be provided by stock licks. Bottle
trees (b. represtre) are often cut down completely to feed soft inner
pith to cattle in extreme drought; these must be replanted.
Lab-lab bean (lab-lab purpureus- syn. dolichos lab-lab)
Herbaceous perennial legume, often grown as an annual- 1.5-6m tall.
Subtropical to tropical evergreen or summer herbaceous climber. May
become rampant, but managed by slashing 3-4 times a year or grazing by
sheep, goats, or cows. In subtropics dies back in light frost and can
therefore be interplanted with grains. Tropics: remains green in dry
season.
Uses: Young leaves eaten raw or cooked, ripe seeds as split peas, or
sprouted, boiled and mashed to a paste, then fried. High biomass
forage crop (either green or as hay or silage). A useful dryland
trellis crop for a sun shield (must be watered). Excellent green
manure plant and cover crop; cut and use as mulch. Often grown in
rotation with commercial crop to provide nitrogen.
Lavender (lavandula vera, L. dentata)
Small woody shrub easily grown from cuttings. Suited to cool areas and
is drought-resistant (originally a mediterranean plant). Well-drained,
alkaline soil is best.
Uses: Ornamental plant, creating an edge in gardens; excellent bee
forage. Flowers and leaves used medicinally. Lavender oil is a
powerful germicide and insect repellant; dried flowers keep moths out
of stored linen and clothes. Place sachets of lavender flowers in
clothes drawers.
Lemongrass (cymbopogon citratus)
Perennial medium-sized "grass" of subtropics and tropics.
Uses: Lemongrass tea, and flavoring used in asian cooking. Excellent
border plant in gardens and orchards to create edge; cut and use for
mulch. Erosion control on slopes when planted in rows along the
contour, will catch and hold silt.
Lespedeza (lespedeza spp.)
Sericea (L. cuneata) is a perennial legume (similar to clover) common
in temperate zones. High value animal fodder, hay and soil improver
(nitrogen-fixer). Also used to stabilize slopes. Mostly grown in the
USA for hay, cut before flowers bloom. L. stipulacea and L. striata
are annuals.
Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephela)
A fast growing leguminous tropical tree 10-20m (although can be kept a
manageable size if coppiced or grazed by cattle). Does best on
well-drained soils. Contains a mimosine that may cause toxicity in
stock if overfed; a low mimosine variety is L. Leucocephela var.
cunninghamii. Also, CSIRO scientists have isolated a microbial culture
which cattle can use to break down the toxic substance in their
stomaches. As long as a leucaena is kept to 30-40% of diet, there are
no adverse effects even from normal leucaena varieties.
Uses: Excellent high quality forage (both leaves and pods) for cattle,
sheep, goats; palatable and nutritious. Can be cut and fed, or stock
let in to browse. Also useful in revegetating tropical hillslopes
prone to erosion. Excellent coppicing for firewood, good timber. Rich
in organic fertilizer, used as mulch in alley cropping. Fixes nitrogen
in the soil. Used extensively as living fence/hedge species in west
africa and india.
Loquat (eriobotrya japonica)
A small evergreen tree to 7m, slow to develop from seed; use proven
cultivars grafted onto loquat, pear, or quince stock. Yields by 6th
year, peaks in 15-20 years. Suited to temperate areas; needs
sheltered, sunny position. Frost hardy but needs warmth for fruiting.
Suits most soils, but is a gross feeder (plant near leachline
outfall).
Uses: Fresh fruit in spring; medium understorey tree. Poultry and pig
fodder (fruits).
Lucerne/alfalfa (medicago sativa)
Perennial leguminous herb with life expectancy of 10 years.
Uses: Human food: foliage as alfalfa tea; alfalfa sprouts for salads.
Major temperate animal fodder plant. Excellent bee forage, blooming
just after sweet clover. Soil improver, drawing up subsoil nutrients;
useful ground cover/living mulch under trees. Also tree medic
(medicago arborea): perennial leguminous shrub to 4m; grows in
temperate zones. Important fodder shrub with foliage equivalent to
lucerne. Can be netted and sheep allowed to browse.
Macadamia (macadamia tetraphylla, m. integrifolia)
Slow growing evergreen nut tree to 20m, subtropical to tropical
climates. Need windbreak protection. Grafted varieties bear in 6-7
years. Native to Australia, grown extensively in Hawaii and
California.
Uses: High value nuts, difficult to crack by hand. Nut shells make
excellent mulch. As with many trees, can be grown in pasture, with
sheep let in after trees are mature enough to withstand grazing
animals.
Maple (acer saccharum, a. macrophyllum)
Deciduous cold area tree to 30m. Long lived to over 200 years.
Tolerates partial shade. Sends out growth inhibitor to nearby plants
through roots.
Uses: Maple sugar, tapped in winter. Ornamental: red and yellow autumn
leaves. Good carving wood. Bee forage.
Mesquites (prosopis juliflora, p. tamarugo)
Leguminous spreading shrubs and small trees 10-15m. Arid climates,
totally drought-resistant and extremely salt tolerant. Grown from
saline desert to semi-desert zones. P. juliflora (honey mesquite)
yields 50 tons of pods per hectare, with 3-5 years to production.
Caution: Easily becomes rampant.
Uses: Major fodder trees of drylands for stock and poultry; 14cm long
pods are high in sugar, some protein. Pods made into a syrup (in
Peru). Bee forage. Coppices easily for firewood. Also p. alba, p.
nigra, p. pallida, and p. chilensis.
Moringa (moringa oleifera)
Also called the horseradish or drumstick tree. Small tree to 10m;
propagated by cuttings. Tropical fast growing. Tender pods as
vegetables; flowers and young leaves eaten. Fried seeds. Roots as
condiment (like horseradish). Twigs and leaves lopped for stock
fodder.
Mulberry (morus spp.)
Deciduous dome-shaped trees to 20m, grow from temperate to subtropical
climates. Main species are black mulberry (m. nigra), red mulberry (m.
rubra), and white mulberry (m. alba). Can be grown in full sun but is
also shade tolerant. Easily grown from seed or cuttings.
Uses: Edible berries, m. nigra and m. rubra have superior fruit. M.
alba is fast growing, with short fruiting season; leaves are used as
silk-worm food in China. Excellent trees for poultry and pig forage as
fruits are numerous and fall easily to the ground. Leaves can also be
fed to cattle. Useful wood for fenceposts and barrels.
Nasturtium (tropaeolum majus)
A creeping or climbing perennial, usually grown as an annual;
frost-sensitive. Prolific in moist gardens, but will also grow in most
soils and sites.
Uses: Good ground cover and companion plant around fruit trees. Seeds
can be pickled as a substitute for capers; they are also used
medicinally as an antiseptic. Leaves and flowers edible in salads.
Natal plum (carissa grandiflora)
Thorny evergreen shrub to 2m; grows in dry subtropics/tropics. Ripe
fruits eaten raw; preferably made to conserves. Substitute for
cranberry sauce. Attractive ornamental shrub; values as a hedge in
south africa.
Oaks (quercus spp.)
Mostly large, spreading deciduous trees up to 40m, although some are
smaller or even prostrate. Long lived, many are fast growing and bear
acorns early. Large habitat range from dryland soils to acid swamps;
temperate to subtropical climates (most species are well-suited to
cold areas). Good germination, although acorns sometimes lose
viability in a year. Yield is variable, usually alternating years.
Uses: Acorns as animal forage, high carbohydrate. Most valuable for
pigs, although crushed acorns and leaf mould are fed to poultry.
Species used are "sweet", or low in tannin. Excellent hardwood timber
and firewood. Some species used for wine vats to aid maturation
process. Oaks offer shelter for stock and are good fire sector species
(poor burners when "green"). Leaves are used for animal bedding.
Following are a list of some species suited for particular uses:
Human food: Acorns contain tannin which can be removed from ground
acorn meal by leaching in streams and cooking. Some sweeter acorns
are: Q. ilex var. ballota (a cultivar of the holm oak) which is the
best old world eating acorn used in Portugal and Spain. Q. alba (white
oak) a common North American tree with acorns boiled like chestnuts by
Native Americans.
Fodder: Best is Q. ilex (holm oak) and Q. suber (cork oak); mixed
stands grown in Portugal for pig forage, with very high yields on
alternate years. Such mixed oak forests yield 68kg/hectare per year
over a ten year period. Other fodder species are Q. prinoides
(chinquapain oak), Q. alba (white oak), and Q. minor (post oak).
Timber: Most oak trees produce superior quality timber. Some important
species are Q. robur (English oak) used for centuries in buildings and
ships; Q. petraea (durmast oak); Q. alba (white oak), also used for
barrel making; and Q. rubra (red oak), used extensively for furniture.
Cork: Quercus suber, the cork oak, is cultivated in Spain and Portugal
for wine/champagne bottle stoppers, insulation, flooring, etc. Once
mature, cork can be harvested every 8-10 years without harming the
tree. A hectare of cork oak will yield an average of 240kg/year.
Other uses: Q. mongolica is the host plant for the tusser silkworm of
China and Japan; these are semi-domesticated and produce a
high-quality silk. Quercus velutina (black or quercitrin oak) yields a
permanent yellow dye from its inner bark. Q. ilex and Q. alba are used
for high-quality charcoal production.
Olive (olea europaea)
Small evergreen tree to 8m; long lived (up to 700 years). Dryland
plant of mediterranean region, not suited to maritime or cold regions
(although fairly frost-hardy, fruit needs hot summers to ripen).
Propagation by cuttings; olives bear in 4-6 years. Can grow on thin,
rocky soils, but yield is best on fertile soils.
Uses: Fruit is eaten green or ripe; green olives must be soaked in a
lye solution before pickling to remove bitterness. Excellent oil crop:
fruit picked when fully ripe (but not soft), then crushed to a mash
and placed in cloth bags. These are pressed and the oil collected.
Good olive varieties yield as much as 30% oil. The remaining pulp
after pressing can be fed to stock. Olives trees are a good shelter
and occasional forage for stock.
Palms
Woody perennials with many uses, from human food, oils, sugar, animal
fodder, structural material, thatch, and fiber. Most useful palms grow
in dry or wet tropics. Have deep tap roots, and many are successfully
used in agroforestry (crops and pasture) as they do not compete for
water. Date palm (phoenix dactylifera, p. sylvestris, p. canariensis):
Dioecious, need one male to 60-80 females. Staple food yielding dates;
old trees are tapped for toddy (sugar). Inferior species of dates can
be used for animal fodder or possible fuel crop. Borassus palms
(borassus spp.): Palmyra (b. flabellifer) tapped for sugar in India
(produces 170 pounds of nectar per acre, or 40,000 liters of alcohol
fuel). Timber is hard and durable. Others are b. aethiopican, b.
sundaicus. Doum or gingerbread palm (hypaene thebaicus):
multi-stemmed, branched palm to 15m, bearing heavy crops of edible
hard-shelled fruits. Staple food and fodder crop of arid lands, mainly
Egypt. Coconut (cocos nucifera): Essential plant of many tropical
island cultures. Yields coir for rope, thatch, oil, drinking "water",
nut meats, and sugar from flower stalks. Chilean wine palm (jubaea
spectabilis): Temperate zone palm yielding 410 liters of sweet sap
annually. Cold hardy. Fruits with edible nuts, useful for fodder.
Peach palm or pejibaye (bactris (guilielma) gasipaes): a spiny-trunked
plant; staple of central and south america exceeding maize production
in protein and carbohydrate yields per acre. Fruits chestnut-like,
boiled and dried as food. Also for poultry and pig forage. Hardy only
in frost-free zones.
Passionfruits (passiflora spp.)
Evergreen perennials; vigorous growers (sometimes rampant as they will
naturalize and climb in forest trees).
Uses: Edible fruit, poultry and pig fodder, sun deflector to shade
walls, used to cover (and keep cool) water tanks and sheds.
Ornamental, with showy flowers. Black passionfruit (passiflora edulis)
is a vigorous climber of subtropical to tropical areas. Cultivated on
fixed fence trellis, cropping for 4-8 years (some varieties last
longer). Frost tender in early growth. Banana passionfruit (p.
mollisma) is grown in temperate maritime climates; will withstand
moderate frost once established. Yields from late autumn to early
summer, and is valuable poultry fodder (fruit seeds). An under-used
fruit for winter fresh fruit, more easily peeled than p. edulis.
Lillikoi (p. alata) is a hardy vigorous grower of the subtropics and
tropics; plant two or more for best cross-fertilization. Delicious
fruit. Other edible passionfruits of the tropics are granadilla (p.
quadrangularis), sweet granadilla (p. ligularis), and water-lemon (p.
laurifolia).
Paulownia (paulownia tomentosa, p. fargesii)
Quick growing drought-resistant deciduous tree to 15m. Mild temperate
to subtropical range, with p. fargesii in the cooler climates. Grown
extensively in China. Has deep taproot and will not compete with
pasture, crops. Has large leaves, but with some pruning and wide
spading allows light through.
Uses: Timber crop for fine furniture, boxes, chests. Used in
agroforestry to shelter cereal, soybean, and cotton crops; wood taken
in 6-12 years (pruning and shaping necessary to maintain good log
growth). Leaves contain nutrients, can be used as stock fodder and
mulch.
Persimmon (diospryros kaki, d. virginiana)
Many varieties, especially in Japan. Deciduous tree to 15m, yielding
fruit in winter. Temperate to subtropical climates. Fairly
frost-hardy; does well in most well-drained soils. Japanese persimmon
(d. kaki) does best in full sun, while american persimmon (d.
virginiana) can tolerate partial shade.
Uses: Fruit, eaten when over-ripe (harvested when hard and ripened
indoors). Fallen fruit is an excellent pig and stock food. Ornamental
plant, with autumn color (spectacular red fruits on leafless tree). A
good front yard plant, along with other such ornamental edibles as
nasturtium, kale, almond, peach, currant, etc.
Pigeon pea (cajanus cajan)
Leguminous woody shrub of dry subtropics and tropics; frost sensitive.
Quick growing short lived perennial, sometimes grown as an annual,
1-4m tall.
Uses: Major tropical food grain, green seeds and pods used as
vegetables. Ripe seeds for flour, dhal, sprouts (22% protein, 10%
calcium). Important forage plant eaten green or made into hay or
silage. Sometimes planted in pastures as a browse plant. Ideal
windbreak and shade for vegetables; leaves cut for mulch on garden
beds. Shade tree plantations (coffee, cacao) and vanilla production in
India. Useful windbreak hedge species.
Prickly pear (opuntia spp.)
Spiny cacti with flat, fleshy pads grown in dry subtropics/tropics.
Like full sun; grow to 2m. Propagated by planting pads into the
ground. Will grow in poor soil, drought-resistant. Caution: can be
invasive, birds carry seeds.
Uses: Fruit, eaten fresh or stewed (numerous hard seeds); used gloves
to harvest, then scrub off fine spines and peel. Seeds are nutritious
and are sometimes ground for animal feed. Young opuntia pads are
de-spined and sold in mexican, indian markets for human food; pads
also fed to stock (spines are burnt off). Good barrier hedges. Some
varieties are: mission prickly pear (o. mega-cantha), common prickly
pear (o. ficus-indica), o. undulata, o. streptacantha.
Prunus spp.
These deciduous species contains some of the most important temperate
fruits: apricot, plum, almond, peach, nectarine, cherry. Many
cultivars, some miniature varieties. Most are small trees and shrubs
1-10m tall. Mediterranean climates, warm dry summers best.
Semi-tolerant of drought.
Uses: Mainly for fruit, usually eaten fresh or in conserves, juice.
Almonds are a storable product. Some species such as damson plum (p.
instilia), sour cherry (p. cerasus), and common plum (p. domestica)
will form thickets, making an excellent hedge for windbreak, wildlife
habitat. All species good bee forage.
Queensland arrowroot (canna edulis)
A clump-forming perennial of the subtropics and tropics (originally
from the americas). One of the hardiest arrowroot plants, can grow in
temperate areas where there is little frost (needs warm, sunny
position).
Uses: Tubers cooked for a sweetish taste, though inferior to sweet
potato due to fiber. Arrowroot flour. Animal forage, especially pigs.
Also used as a garden windbreak and weed barrier with comfrey and
lemongrass, and can be chopped occasionally for garden mulch.
Quinoa (chenopodium quinoa)
Hardy annual to 1-2m, grown in south american andes; cold temperate
dryland. Drought-tolerant. Sow in spring after frost. Nutritious grain
food, tasty greens. Grind seeds into flour or remove bitterness of
whole grains by soaking; use boiled or in soup. Chicken fodder. Other
useful chenopodium spp. for human food and chicken fodder are fat hen
or lamb's quarters (c. album) with calcium rich leaves for salads,
seeds relished by poultry and birds, and good king henry (c.
bonushenricus), young plant eaten like asparagus and spinach.
Rosella (hibiscus sabdariffa)
Fast growing annual shrub of subtropics and tropics, grows 1.5-2m
tall. Tolerates most soils, must be well-drained. Needs long summer
growing period.
Uses: Fruits stewed or used in desserts and drinks, conserves. Tenders
leaves and young stems used as a salad or steamed; leaves are chopped
as a savory herb (for curries). Another useful plant of the hibiscus
family is okra (h. esculentus) with the tender pods boiled or sliced
and fried. Used in soups and gumbos.
Salsify (tragopogon porrifolius)
Temperate biennial clumping plant to .6m, often planted as annual.
Cultivated for its oyster-flavored edible taproot (harvested autumn,
winter, spring). Young leaves and flowers edible in spring and summer.
Scarlet runner bean (phaseolus cocineus, p. multiflorus)
Herbaceous perennial (grown as an annual in cold climates) with thick
root stock. Tolerates some frost; grown in mild coastal or island
climates. Needs cool periods to fruit heavily.
Uses: Edible young pods, beans fresh or dried. Good trellis plant for
shade; bright red ornamental flowers. Tubers are boiled as a vegetable
in central american highlands. Other useful phaseolus are tepary bean
(p. acutifolius), a high-value dryland species; and lima bean (p.
lunulatus), a tropical low hedge plant on fences.
Sesbania (sesbania bispinosa, s. aculeata, s. grandiflora)
Fast growing (4-6m/year) short lived subtropical and tropical legume
tree 6-9m high. Drought-resistant. Easily propagated by seed.
Uses: Seeds used for poultry fodder and leaves for forage. S. aculeata
used in asia as traditional green manure crop and border plant
(nitrogen-fixer) planted together with rice. S. grandiflora grown in
the mekong delta in home gardens for its leaves and flowers used for
human food and livestock and poultry. Planted along rice paddies,
yields up to 55 tons of green material per hectare. Used as temporary
shade trees in nurseries. Windbreak in citrus and coffee, banana.
Living fence and firewood source. Used for large scale reforestation
of bare land outside forests in indonesia.
Siberian pea shrub (caragana spp.)
Tall leguminous shrubs 1-5m, forms thickets. Caragana arborescens is
the only species that grows into a tree. Very cold and wind hardy,
growing from arctic circle to warm, dry climates. Seeds burst out of
6cm long pods, and should be collected in bags before completely ripe
if needed for seed.
Uses: Windbreak and hedge shrub for very cold climates. Seeds are
excellent poultry forage food. Wildlife habitat, sheltering small
animals in the thickets. C. arborescens leaves produce a blue dye.
Nitrogen-fixer.
Stone pine (pinus pinea and other spp.)
Confier up to 10-30m tall, slow growing and long lived. Suits cool
areas and can grow on exposed, dry rocky sites.
Uses: Pine nuts or kernels are rich in oil, have very good flavor.
Cones are collected when mature but unopened; opened in summer sun or
dryer and nuts are shaken free. Many species have excellent edible
nuts, including pinyon pine (p. edulis), coulters pine (p. coulteri),
p. cembra (europe), p. gerardiana (afghanistan).
Sunflower (helianthus annus)
Annual plants .7-3.5m tall, temperate to tropical climates (not suited
to the wet tropics, however). Drought-resistant but do best when
watered at intervals. Grow on a wide range of good draining soils.
Release root exudate, some crops do not grow next to them.
Uses: High-value protein seed for human and livestock, especially
poultry and pigeons. Whole heads may be given to stock. Salad and
cooking oil made from seeds, with seedcake residue fed to stock. Also
used in blends with linseed for paints and varnishes. Lubricant and
lighting. Stalks and hulls are mulch, bedding for livestock.
Sunn hemp (crotalaria juncea)
Tall shrubby annual 1-3m subtropics and tropics, frost-sensitive.
Quick growing large leaved legume, hardy and drought-resistant.
Uses: Cultivated for fibers used as twine, paper, nets, sacking
(better than jute). Root exudate said to control nematodes in the
soil. Easily grown in gardens, with leaves used for mulch. Crotalaria
brevidens used as annual fodder in tropical africa. Green manure crop,
often grown in rotation with rice, maize, cotton; and interplanted
with coffee, pineapple. When thickly-sown, will smother all weeds,
even vigorous grass weeds.
Sunroot/Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus tuberosus)
Tall perennial which dies back to roots, 1-3m tall. Propagated by
tubers. Yields are often 4-5 times that of potatoes. Hardy, wide
climatic range from temperate regions to tropics. Will tolerate poor
soils. Like sunflowers, sunroots release a root exudate which is toxic
to some plants.
Uses: Human food; tubers eaten as a vegetable. Animal forage; dry
stalks and leaves eaten by goats, tubers by pigs. Fast garden
windbreak; also used to break up hard soils. Leaves used for mulch in
gardens after tubers harvested.
Sweet potato (ipomoea batatas)
Perennial twining plant, often treated as an annual. Temperate to
tropical tubers usually planted on ridges or mounds (cannot stand
waterlogging). Propagated by stem cuttings in tropics; tuber sprouts
in temperate climates. Needs frost-free growing period of 4-6 months.
Uses: Important food source, eaten boiled or baked. Used for canning,
drying, flour manufacture, and as a source of starch, glucose, syrup,
and alcohol. Also fed to livestock. Vines are widely used as fodder
for stock. Grown in subtropics as a ground cover for orchards, but
must occasionally be slashed from tree trunks. Dies back in frost.
Taro (colocasia esculentus)
Tropical wet culture plants with over 1000 cultivars. Grown either in
wetland terraces with azolla fern (for nitrogen fixation) or on
mulched and irrigated plots. Staple food of the tropics. Large root is
eaten, although some taros are grown for their leaves. The leaves of
many taros are poisonous.
Taupata (coprosma repens)
Also called new zealand mirror plant. Large evergreen shrub 2-3m with
shiny leaves. Dioecious (separate female and male plants). Easily
grown from cuttings. Temperate climates, wind hardy and resistant to
salt spray, drought, and fire. Common ornamental seaside plant in new
zealand and tasmania.
Uses: Hedgerow plant and fire retardant. Fruit and seeds are excellent
poultry forage. Leaves are eagerly eaten by sheep, horses, cows.
Pruned clippings make a good mulch or compost.
Tagasaste (chamaecytisus palmensis)
Note: Previously named tree lucerne (cytisus proliferus).
Nitrogen-fixing legume tree 6-10m, living for more than 30 years. Easy
to grow from seed (scarify or pour boiling water over seeds and soak).
Tolerant of poor soils, drought, wind. Originated in dry mediterranean
type climate, but does well in cool temperate areas withstanding light
frosts. Tagasaste recovers after pruning or defoliation by animals.
For best results fertilize with trace elements and lop branches
regularly (either by hand or animal browsing) to give a more bush
foliage. Seed can be direct drilled into pasture, but plants should be
protected from stock for up to 3 years (or stock let in for brief
periods to graze). If sheep ringbark trees, cut to the ground to
encourage new growth; this will form thickets more resistant to sheep
damage.
Uses: Foliage an important protein-rich fodder for stock during
drought and at the end of summer. Bee forage, many small white
flowers. Chickens eat seeds. Windbreak hedge. Nurse plant surrounding
frost-sensitive trees in early years. Excellent cut mulch, tree can be
lopped 3-4 times in summer.
Tamarillo or tree tomato (cyphomandra betacea)
Short lived shrub 3-6m of the tomato family. Sown from seed or
propagated by cuttings from 1 or 2 year old wood. Yields in two years.
Subtropical, marginally suited to cool areas (placed in a sheltered
sunny position- will tolerate mild frost). Well-drained soil.
Uses: Fruit high in vitamin c, used fresh stewed, conserves.
Commercially grown in new zealand, high value crop.
Trapa nut (trapa natans, t. incisa)
Also called indian water chestnut. Several species temperate to
tropical regions. Aquatic perennial floats in water 2-3 feet deep.
Needs high nutrients.
Uses: Important starchy food plant, rich in iron. Flour like arrowroot.
Walnut (juglans regia, j. nigra)
Spreading deciduous trees to 30m, long lived. Temperate climate, cold
areas. Yields best on deep well-drained rich soils. Release root
exudate which inhibits some understorey plants, although pasture does
well.
Uses: Both species are important for nut production, timber, specialty
woods. Husk produce a dye. Black walnut (j. nigra) rootstock is
resistant to armillaria root ro; all commercial english stands are
grafted. Black walnut is a particularly sought-after wood, with very
high prices paid for good, straight timber (yields in 40-50 years).
White cedar (melia azedarach)
Short lived (20 years) deciduous tree 9-12m tall. Suited to a wide
range of warm climates, tropics to mediterranean.
Uses: Fast growing shade tree, good for afforestation. Valuable
timber, resistant to termite attack (does not need to be treated) and
used for poles, furniture, and roofing material. Fuelwood. Coppices
well, trees lopped for green manure. Leaves, bark and fruits are
credited with insect-repellant qualities. Extracts of the leaves are
used as a spray against grasshoppers, and leaves placed in books and
wool clothing to protect against moths. Caution: Fruits are very
poisonous.
Willows (salix spp.)
Around 300 species, mainly spreading deciduous trees, water-loving.
Mostly temperate climate, easily propagated from stem cuttings. May
become naturalized or rampant, especially along streams.
Uses: Salix viminalis (osier willow) and other species used for
basketry. Long 1-2 year old shoots are cut from pollarded willow
stumps, or from thickets of willow stems (trunk cut at ground level).
S. matsudana is used in new zealand for erosion control. Weeping and
pussy willows (s. discolor), among others, are excellent bee forages.
Willows are fire retardants (steam rather than burn). S. matsudana
var. tortuosa has lush foliage for emergency sheep and deer fodder
during drought; one hectare of willows can maintain 1000 sheep for 6
days (data from agroforestry in australia and new zealand).
Winged bean (psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
Leguminous twining vine, growing to over 3m when supported. Valuable
nutritious tropical garden bean.
Uses: Edible pods, young leaves, shoots, flowers as vegetables;
immature tuberous roots eaten raw or cooked. Very high protein
con
Comments
Willow: The bark and leaves contain salicylic acid which is the active ingredient in asprin.