Edible Plant Species

Xylopia aethiopica A. Rich. Anonaceae. ETHIOPIAN PEPPER. GUINEA PEPPER. NEGRO PEPPER.
Tropical Africa.
A tall shrub whose fruit, consisting of a number of smooth, pod-like carpels about the thickness of a quill and two inches long, is dried and used instead of pepper. The seeds have an aromatic, pungent taste and were formerly sold in English shops under the name of Ethiopian pepper, Guinea pepper and Negro pepper.

X. frutescens Aubl.
Tropical America.
The seeds have an acrid, aromatic taste and are used by the negroes in Guiana instead of pepper.

X. glabra Linn. BITTERWOOD.
Jamaica.
The wood, bark and berries have an agreeable, bitter taste, not unlike that of the orange seed. Freshly gathered from the tree, the berries are agreeable to the palate and grateful to the stomach.

X. sericea A. St. Hil.
Brazil.
Arruda says the capsules have the taste and pungency of black pepper and are used by many as a spice in cooking and by some are preferred even to pepper. The fruit, says St. Hilaire, has the odor and taste of pepper but is not as strong. It can be employed as a spice.

X. undulata Beauv.
Tropical Africa.
It also furnishes a similar spice.

Xysmalobium heudelotianum Decne. Asclepiadeae
Tropical Africa.
The plant has a watery, turnip-shaped root, called yakhop by the negroes, by whom it is eaten.