Araucaria araucana - Monkey Puzzle tree

Araucaria anguvstifolia, another member of the pan-global Araucariaceae family, many of which have edible seeds and multiple other ethnobotanical uses.

Native to It is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. A. araucana is the national tree of Chile. Its conservation status was changed to Endangered by the IUCN in 2013 due to the dwindling population caused by logging, forest fires, and grazing.

The large seeds, or pinions, are edible can be consumed, prepared in a wide variety of ways. The tree, however, does not yield seeds until it is around 30 to 40 years old, which discourages investment in planting orchards (although yields at maturity can be immense); once established, it can live possibly as long as 1,000 years.

Araucaria bidwillii - Bunya-Bunya pine

Theobroma cacao- Chocolate, Cacao


There's a lot that can be said about this species.







Cacaoaquavitl - Cacao Tree










700 g cacao

750 g sugar

56 g cinnamon (probably Canella winterana)

14 Mexican peppercorns (Capsicum spp.)

14 g spice cloves (Pimenta dioica)

3 vanilla pods

1 handful of anise (probably Tagetes lucida)

1 hazelnut

musk, grey amber, and orange blossom water

Pachira aquatica - Guinea Chestnut, Apompo



Pachira glabra - Saba nut, Guinea peanut, French peanut


Bombacopsis glabra leaf.jpg

Originating in Mexico, Guiana, and  northern Brazil, Pachira glabra is similar looking and closely related to Pachira aquatica, the Malabar chestnut. In Brazil the Saba nut is a fruit tree, cultivated as an ornamental in south-eastern areas of the country.  It is not very frequent in its natural habitat, the pluvial Atlantic forests from Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro and the flood plain forests of Para and Maranhao. Today this species is distributed throughout the tropical world, used both as an ornamental tree and a food crop. 

It is a small evergreen tree 4-6 m tall. The fruits are semi-woody capsules which stay green even when ripe. Like many of the Bombacaceae species P. Glabra has a very fat trunk to store water. Just after germination the girth of the trunk becomes noticeable, almost disproportional to the rest of the tree.


The tree produces a fruit/pod which contains many edible seeds which can be consumed raw or toasted/roasted/boiled. The seeds contain 16% protein and 40-50% fat. P. glabra along with P. aquitaca are both considered to be among the more notable under appreciated tropical food crops.

The young leaves and flowers of P. glabra (and P. aquatica) are also edible. 

Bombocopsis glabra fruit.jpg

Mature trees will produce between 50 - 80 fruits per year.


The tree can be propagated from seed, cuttings, and air layers. Trees are resilient to both droughts and flooding. 


P. glabra makes a fantastic full sun / deep shade tolerant, medium size, understory seed/nut crop. Trees are resilient to pests, they drop a thick leaf biomass year round and produce abundant fruit. The trees are relatively maintenance free aside from irrigation upon initial establishment. 

Lupinus pilosus - Altrei coffee, Tyrolian coffee

Lupinus pilosus flower 1.jpg


Lupinus pilosus, commonly called blue lupine, (also known as ‘Altreier Kaffee’, or Altrei Coffee, Hebrew: תורמוס ההרים‎, Arabic: ترمس برّي‎) from the fabaceae family. The species is thought to be endemic to Israel where it is found in Mediterranean scrubland.


Lupinus pilosus leaf.jpg

L. pilosus used to be widely cultivated as a caffeine-free coffee substitute around the village of Altrei, in the Tyrolian Alps, Northern Italy. The seeds were roasted and mixed with malt grains and infused in boiling water. I do not know how it made its way there from where it is native in the Middle East, near and around Palestine. Interestingly, not only from a cultural and historical but also from a botanical standpoint, since 2006 a local initiative is re-establishing L. pilosus cultivation in the Altrei region to revive this culinary specialty.


Lupinus pilosus seed.jpg

The plant can be propagated easily from seed. Direct seeding works best and the plant will naturalize if grown in a favorable environInitially. The small seedlings don't seem to like transplanting. The newly germinated plant quickly develops a strong root system. Seeds are best seeded in fall or late winter. They will germinate and remain small until the weather starts to warm up at which point the plant will grow rapidly. I collected seed growing from plants outside a UC Berkeley plant science facility, the large seedpods drew my attention. Now I’ve been growing the species for years, accumulating more and more seed each year. One remarkable characteristic of the flower is that is smells exactly like grape soda. Here is a PDF of an article on the use of this species as a coffee substitute. ‘Altreier Kaffee’- Lupinus pilosus L. cultivated as coffee substitute in Northern Italy


Eperua falcata - Bootlace tree




The resin may have slight bactericidal and antifungal properties, which account for its use as a cicatrizant (a substance that heals by inducing scarring). The resin from the bark is placed on warm leaves and tied around cuts and sores, ulcers etc as a poultice. The resin is used as a cicatrizant to heal wounds. The bark is decocted as a dental analgesic. The bitter bark is used as an emetic.

The wood yields an oil which is used as an ointment for rheumatism and to treat wounds[


Cercidium (Parkinsonia) microphyllum - Palo Verde, Dipua






Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera, horshraddish tree, drumstick tree

Yielding protein, oil, and carbohydrates, and with a load of vitamins and minerals, Moringa is possibly the planet's most underdeveloped tree. A sort of food market on a stalk, it yields at least four different edibles: pods, leaves, seeds, roots. Beyond edibles, it provides products that make village life more self-sufficient in rural communities: lubricating oil, lamp oil, wood, paper, liquid fuel, skin treatments, the means to purify water, and more. The green pods, which look like giant green beans but taste something like asparagus, are notably nutritious. Foliage is an important food product as well. People in various countries around the world boil up the tiny leaflets and eat them like spinach. In general this supreme plant shows a capacity to help solve problems such as hunger, malnutrition, rural poverty, disease, deforestation, and visual blight. Although the experiences come almost exclusively from India, the genus Moringa is inherently African, so it has ancestral roots in sub-Saharan soils. Read more in this informative PDF

Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera

Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera