Abelmoschus esculentus (L - the University of Maine at Fort Kent

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
NATURAL RANGE: Western North America
REFERENCES: Facciola 1990, Munz 1974
Cardamine pensylvanica Muhl.
FAMILY: Cruciferae (mustard) or Brassicaceae (brassica)
ENGLISH: Pennsylvania bittercress
USES/NOTES: Leaves may be used like water-cress (Rorippa nasturtiumaquaticum)
in salads and soups.
NATURAL RANGE: Eastern North America
REFERENCES: Hickman 1993, Kunkel 1984, Uphof 1968
Cardamine pratensis L.
FAMILY: Cruciferae (mustard) or Brassicaceae (brassica)
ENGLISH: cuckoo flower, lady’s smock, meadow cress, spinks
USES/NOTES: Leaves used like water cress (Rorippa nasturtiumaquaticum)
and an emergency food.
NATURAL RANGE: North temperate regions
REFERENCES: Crowhurst 1972, Facciola 1990, Mabberley 1987, Uphof 1968
Carduus nutans L. [syn. C. thoermeri Weinm.]
FAMILY: Asteraceae or Compositae (aster, composite, or sunflower)
ENGLISH: musk thistle, nodding plumeless thistle, Scotch thistle
PORTUGUESE: cardo
SPANISH: cardo pendiente
USES/NOTES: Dired flowers have been used to curdle milk, and the pith
may be eaten cooked like asparagus (Asparagus officinalis).
NATURAL RANGE: Europe through Siberia, widely naturalized and invasive
in North America
REFERENCES: Mabberley 1987, Uphof 1968
Carica papaya L. [syn. C. peltata Hook. & Arn., Papaya carica (L.)
Gaertner]
FAMILY: Caricaceae (papaya)
ENGLISH: melon tree, papaw, papaya, pawpaw
PORTUGUESE: mamão, papaieira, pinoguaçu
SPANISH: ababaya, árbol de melón, fruta bomba, kwarkwatta, lechosa,
lechoso, mamón, mamona, mapayo, melón zapote, papanajo, papaya,
papaya de mico (C. peltata), papayo, sach papaya, utsun
USES/NOTES: Nutritious fruits, highly variable in size, color, and
flavor, are eaten fresh when ripe or cooked as a vegetable when
unripe. Roots are eaten boiled with sugar, seeds are used as a
peppery spice, and leaves, inflorescences, young stems, and flowers
are eaten as cooked vegetables. Leaves, roots, and seeds are also
medicinal. Latex contains papain, an enzyme used in meat
tenderizers, to make beer, cheese, chewing gum, medicines, and in
tanning. C. peltata has been treated as a distinct species of
either Central or South American origin. C. papaya is now
considered to be the only Carica species based on geographic
isolation in Central America and its hollow, as opposed to pithy
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