Tapioca is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant, a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America. It is a perennial shrub adapted to the hot conditions of tropical lowlands. Cassava copes better with poor soils than many other food plants.
Sago is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is called saksak, rabia and sagu. The largest supply of sago comes from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia. Large quantities of sago are sent to Europe and North America for cooking purposes. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste (papeda), or as a pancake.
Colocasia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southeastern Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species are widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical and subtropical regions.
Borassus is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Papua New Guinea.
Arenga pinnata is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, areng palm, black sugar palm, and kaong palm, among other names.
Arenga is a genus of palms, native to Southeast Asia, southern China, New Guinea, and northern Australia. They are small to medium-sized palms, growing to 2–20 m tall, with pinnate leaves 2–12 m long. Arenga palms can grow in areas with little sunlight and relatively infertile soil.
Tacca leontopetaloides is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to the islands of Southeast Asia. Austronesian peoples introduced it as a canoe plant throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics during prehistoric times. It has become naturalized to tropical Africa, South Asia, northern Australia, and Oceania. Common names include Polynesian arrowroot, Fiji arrowroot, East Indies arrowroot, pia, and seashore bat lily.
Syzygium densiflorum is a species of evergreen tree in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats mountains, India. The species is categorised as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.
Vateria indica, the white dammar, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats mountains in India. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a large canopy or emergent tree frequent in tropical wet evergreen forests of the low and mid-elevations.
Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra.
Metroxylon sagu, the true sago palm, is a species of palm in the genus Metroxylon, native to tropical southeastern Asia. The tree is a major source of sago starch.
Caryota urens is a species of flowering plant in the palm family, native to Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Malaysia, where they grow in fields and rainforest clearings, it is regarded as introduced in Cambodia. The epithet urens is Latin for "stinging" alluding to the chemicals in the fruit. Common names in English include solitary fishtail palm, kitul palm, toddy palm, wine palm, sago palm and jaggery palm. Its leaf is used as fishing rod after trimming the branches of the leaf and drying. According to Monier-Williams, it is called moha-karin in Sanskrit. It is one of the sugar palms.
Artocarpus hirsutus, commonly known as wild jack, is a tropical evergreen tree species that is native to India, primarily in Kerala, but also in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, where it grows in moist, deciduous to partially evergreen woodlands.
Beccariophoenix alfredii, also known as the high plateau coconut palm, is a recently discovered species of Arecaceae (palms), endemic to Madagascar. It is in the genus Beccariophoenix, and is closely related to the genus Cocos. Beccariophoenix alfredii is very similar in appearance to the coconut palm, although somewhat cold hardy, making it a good look-alike for the coconut in cooler climates.
Garcinia indica, a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae), commonly known as kokum, is a fruit-bearing tree that has culinary, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses. It grows primarily in India's Western Ghats: in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. It is considered as an endemic species to the Western Ghats and forests in India.
Dipterocarpus bourdillonii is a species of large tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae endemic to the Western Ghats principally in the state of Kerala in India. It is a Critically Endangered species according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is a characteristic tree of the low-elevation tropical wet evergreen rainforests in the Western Ghats.
Bhesa indica is a flowering plant tree species in the Centroplacaceae family. It is distributed along the tropical wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of India. It is considered synonymous with Bhesa paniculata by some authors.
Baccaurea courtallensis is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats mountains in India. It is a medium size evergreen understory tree frequent in tropical wet evergreen forests of the low and mid-elevations (40-1000m). It is a Near Threatened species according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Drypetes wightii is an evergreen tree species endemic to the Western Ghats, India. The species is considered Vulnerable under the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species.
