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

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
FAMILY: Agavaceae (agave) or Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis)
ENGLISH: giant tree yucca, tree yucca
SPANISH: datilillo
USES/NOTES: Flower buds are eaten like fruit, cooked and ground
flowers are made into candy called colache, and dark ripe fruits
are eaten cooked. Flower buds are made into a medicinal tea.
Tree-like (rarely to 7 meters) and often branched or multistemmed,
the cut plants are cultivated as a living fence.
NATURAL RANGE: Sonoran Desert and Baja California, Mexico
REFERENCES: Lauri 2000, Shreve and Wiggins 1964
Yucca whipplei Torrey in Emory [syn. Hesperoyucca whipplei
(Torrey) Baker]
FAMILY: Agavaceae (agave) or Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) or
Liliaceae (lily)
ENGLISH: chaparral yucca, our Lord’s candle, Whipple’s yucca
USES/NOTES: Flowers and flower stalks are edible and ground seeds
have been used in porridge.
NATURAL RANGE: Mexico and the southwestern U.S.
REFERENCES: Desert Tropicals 1998-2000, Uphof 1968, Yanovsky 1936
Zamia furfuracea Aiton
FAMILY: Zamiaceae (zamia) or Cycadaceae (cycad)
ENGLISH: cardboard cycad, cardboard palm, coontie, Mexican zamia
SPANISH: acesiva, camotillo, thipaak (Zamia sp.)
USES/NOTES: Roots, once an important Amerindian starch source, must
be cooked to destroy toxins. Also used in urban landscaping in
warm regions. Alcorn reports that the fruit of an unidentified
Zamia sp. is eaten in Mexico.
NATURAL RANGE: Mexico possibly to Belize
REFERENCES: Alcorn 1984, Dehgan 1983, Kermath (notes), OAS 1973,
Stevenson 1987a, Uphof 1968
Zamia integrifolia Willd. [syn. Z. erosa Cook & Collins, Z.
floridana A. DC., Z. lucayana Britton, Z. media Jacq., Z.
silvicola Small, Z. tenuis Willd., Z. umbrosa Small; previously
included under Z. pumila L.] also Z. angustifolia Jacq. [syn. Z.
angustissima Miq., Z. multifoliolata A. DC., Z. stricta Miq., Z.
yatesii Miq.], Z. portoricensis Urban, and Z. pumila L. [syn. Z.
debilis L.f. nomen illegit., Z. latifoliolata Preneloup]
FAMILY: Zamiaceae (zamia) or Cycadaceae (cycad)
ENGLISH: comfortroot, compties, contis, coontie, coontie fern,
Florida arrowroot, Florida coontie, Seminole bread, St. John’s
coontie
SPANISH: acesiva, guáyara, guáyiga (Z. pumila), marunguey, yuquilla
de ratón
USES/NOTES: Large tuberous rootstocks were an important starch
source (Florida arrowroot), made into bread and sofkee stew, for
Amerindians throughout the plant’s range and by early European
settlers in Florida. Roots must be cooked to remove the toxic
DRAFT - DO NOT DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE
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