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

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
SPANISH: ceibillo, pochote
USES/NOTES: Seeds and fruit pulp are eaten roasted or boiled.
NATURAL RANGE: Mexico’s Yucatán through Central America
REFERENCES: Breedlove 1986, Facciola 1990, Martin et al. 1987, Niembro
Rocas 1993, Uphof 1968, Williams 1981
Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertner [syn. C. occidentalis (Spreng.)
Burkill, Bombax pentandrum L., Eriodendron anfractuosum DC.]
FAMILY: Malvaceae (mallow), previously Bombacaceae (silk-cotton)
ENGLISH: ceiba, kapok, kapok tree, silk cotton tree, silk cottonwood
PORTUGUESE: kapok, paina, sumaúma, sumaúma-verdadeira, sumaumeira
SPANISH: árbol capoc, barrigón, bonga, capoc, capoca, capoquero,
ceiba, ceiba de lana, ceiba yuca, ceibo, ceibón, cumaca, habillo,
huimba, idu, igarwala, jabillo, kapoc, kapok, lupona, lupona
blanca, lupuna, lupuna blanca, miraguano, murules, palo santo,
parana, pasayo, pochote, puto, saquisaqui, toborochi
USES/NOTES: Young leaves of this massive rainforest canopy emergent
species are edible, young fruits are eaten cooked and mashed, and
seeds from the ripe fruit pods contain an edible oil, which is also
used in soaps and burned for illumination. Large fruit pods contain
kapok, a silky fiber used for insulation, to stuff mattresses and
life preservers, and to tie blowguns together. Trunks occasionally
are used for dugout canoes. In some regions, a wrap made from the
tree is placed around trunks of fruit trees to guard against leafeating
ants. Ceiba pentandra is the source of the kapok of
commerce, the national tree of Guatemala, and is an icon in the
humid tropics for its tremendous vertical reach (50m to 65m
occasionally), huge spreading crown (to 45m in diameter), and
massive buttresses. Considered sacred and of the spirit world by
some cultures, kapok trees are called “God trees” and “devil trees”
in parts of the Caribbean and “jumbie trees” in parts of Guyana – a
“jumbie” is a ghost-like spirit rooted in African traditions.
NATURAL RANGE: Although nearly pan-tropical under favorable conditions
today, exact diffusion mechanisms (natural and human) from probable
Neotropical (perhaps Central American), though less likely African
origin remain unclear
REFERENCES: Brako and Zarucchi 1993, Duke 1986, Duke and Vásquez 1994,
FUDENA n.d., Gómez-Beloz 2002, Kermath (notes), León 1987,
Mabberley 1987, Martin and Rubarté 1979, MBG n.d., OAS 1973, Silva
et al. 1977
Celastrus scandens L.
FAMILY: Celastraceae (spindle tree)
ENGLISH: American bittersweet, bittersweet, climbing bittersweet,
false bittersweet, staff-vine, waxwork
SPANISH: falsa dulcamara
USES/NOTES: Bark, twigs, and cambium of this spreading deciduous vine
were eaten in times of food scarcity. Today leafless bittersweet
stems bearing brightly colored, persistent yellowish-red to
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