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

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
ENGLISH: butterfly milkweed, butterfly weed, chigger flower, Indian
paintbrush, pleurisy root, tuberroot
USES/NOTES: Boiled fruit pods reportedly are edible, traditionally
prepared with buffalo meat, flowers are said to have been used for
sugar, and young shoots, young leaves, and young inflorescences are
said to be eaten as cooked vegetables. Boiled roots are said to be
edible. Perkins and Payne and Peterson warn that the entire plant
is poisonous. Tubers are medicinal.
NATURAL RANGE: Eastern North America from Maine and Ontario to Florida
and Texas
REFERENCES: Bailey Hortorium 1976, Facciola 1990, Harrington 1967,
Medsger 1939, Perkins and Payne 1978, Peterson 1977, Uphof 1968
Asimina reticulata Shuttleworth ex Chapman [syn. A. cuneata
Shuttleworth ex A. Gray, Pityothamnus reticulatus (Shuttleworth ex
Chapman) Small]
FAMILY: Annonaceae (custard-apple)
ENGLISH: dog banana, flatwoods pawpaw, netted pawpaw, reticulate
pawpaw
USES/NOTES: Pulp of the oblong, yellow-green berry is edible.
NATURAL RANGE: Peninsular Florida extending to the Georgia border
REFERENCES: Taylor 1998
Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal [syn. Annona triloba L.]
FAMILY: Annonaceae (custard-apple)
ENGLISH: American pawpaw, common pawpaw, dog banana, false banana,
Indian banana, Michigan banana, ornamental pawpaw, papaw, pawpaw
SPANISH: papayo
USES/NOTES: Sweet creamy pulp of the oblong berries, yellow-green to
brownish when ripe, tastes vaguely like a banana. Once more
important as a food item, efforts to revive the rather large (to 15
cm long), pulpy fruit are underway. Fruits of the related Asimina
obovata (flag or Florida pawpaw) and Asimina parviflora (dwarf,
small-flowered, or small-fruited pawpaw) are said to be edible
though undesirable.
NATURAL RANGE: Eastern North America from southern Ontario to northern
Florida and northeastern Texas, related species A. obovata
restricted to Florida and A. parviflora to the southeastern U.S.
REFERENCES: Bourke et al. 1987, Duke 1992, Elias and Dykeman 1982,
Facciola 1990, FNAEC 1997, Gibbons 1962, Harrington 1967, Kermath
(notes), Kral 1960, Mabberley 1987, Nelson 1994, Peterson 1977,
Uphof 1968, Usher 1974
Asparagus officinalis L.
FAMILY: Liliaceae (lily)
ENGLISH: asparagus, garden asparagus
PORTUGUESE: aspargo, espargo, melindre
SPANISH: coralillo, espárrago(s), esparraguera, montecillo, saucecillo
DRAFT - DO NOT DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE
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