Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name allspice was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who valued it as a spice that combined the flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a mixture of spices.
Vitellaria paradoxa, commonly known as shea tree, shi tree, or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.
Melicoccus bijugatus is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the New World tropics including South and Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. Its stone-bearing fruits, commonly called quenepa or guinep, are edible. Other names for the fruits include limoncillo, Bajan ackee, chenet, Spanish lime and mamoncillo.
Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States.
Annona reticulata is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae. It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: A. cherimola and A. squamosa. Other English common names include ox heart and bullock's heart. The fruit is sweet and useful in preparation of desserts, but is generally less popular for eating than that of A. cherimola.
Byrsonima crassifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Malpighiaceae, native to tropical America. Common names used in English include nance, maricao cimun, craboo, and golden spoon. In Jamaica it is called hogberry.
Syzygium cumini, commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Andaman Islands. It can reach heights of up to 30 metres (98 ft) and can live more than 100 years. A rapidly growing plant, it is considered an invasive species in many world regions.
Phyllanthus emblica, also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical and southern Asia.
The black-eared flying fox, species Pteropus melanotus, is a bat of the family Pteropodidae (megabats). Also known as Blyth's flying fox, it is found on the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands (India), and in Sumatra (Indonesia). A population on Christmas Island, which is critically endangered, has been placed as a subspecies of this population. The conservation and taxonomic status of that population was later re-established as a distinct species, the Christmas Island fruit-bat Pteropus natalis.
Canarium zeylanicum is a species of flowering plant in the frankincense family, Burseraceae, that is endemic to Sri Lanka. Canarium zeylanicum is a large branched tree that can grow up to 25–30m in height. The seeds of this plant are large, oval, and they can be eaten. This plant can be seen with fruits and flowers in the months of April to September. The oil of the seeds of Canarium zeylanicum are edible and this oil has been used by Sri Lankans for medicinal purposes and for food for ages. However, these uses of the plant are confined to its rural population and even then, they mostly use it for traditional medicinal purposes. Over 95% of the seeds produced and harvested from these plants are thrown away, wasting its source of valuable, natural, and nutritional value.
Vateria macrocarpa is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is endemic to India.
Crataegus pinnatifida, also known as mountain hawthorn, Chinese haw, Chinese hawthorn or Chinese hawberry, refers to a small to medium-sized tree, as well as the fruit of the tree. The fruit is bright red, 1.5 in (38 mm) in diameter.
Semecarpus australiensis, commonly known as the tar tree, native cashew, marking nut, or cedar plum, is a species of tree in the cashew, sumac and mango family Anacardiaceae, native to parts of Melanesia and northern Australia. Contact with the plant can cause serious allergic reactions, a common characteristic of this family.
Crataegus mexicana is a species of hawthorn known by the common names tejocote, manzanita, tejocotera and Mexican hawthorn. It is native to the mountains of Mexico and parts of Guatemala, and has been introduced in the Andes. The fruit of this species is one of the most useful among hawthorns.
Arbutus arizonica, commonly known as Arizona madrone, is a tree species in the heath family that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its range extends along the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera from the Madrean Sky Islands of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south as far as Jalisco. It has been found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa, with one isolated population in Tamaulipas.
Inocarpus fagifer, commonly known as the Tahitian chestnut or Polynesian chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The tree has a wide range in the tropics of the south-west Pacific and south-east Asian regions, and a history of traditional use by the peoples of Polynesia and Melanesia. It is the only edible and culturally important member of the genus Inocarpus.
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.
Vateria indica oil is extracted from the seeds of the Vateria indica plant, a species in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The Vateria indica plant is indigenous to the Western Ghats, Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions of India. It thrives in the evergreen forests, surviving up to 800 meters above sea level. Oil from the seeds of the plant is extracted through a chemical refining process which makes the plant edible.
Curatella americana, commonly known as the wild cashew tree, sambaı́ba, and the sandpaper tree, is a species of tree in the family Dilleniaceae. It is the sole accepted species in genus Curatella.
Sphaerotrypes cristatus, is a species of weevil found in Sri Lanka. Larval host plants are Calophyllum, Shorea cordifolia, and Vateria copallifera.
