Edibles: Food Plant Families & Botanical Definitions

Here are the plant families to which our crops, spices, fruits, herbs and vegetables belong. Also supplied are the botanical definitions for some fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Food Plant Families

Family (Scientific classification)	Represents	Members
Actinidiaceae	Chinese gooseberry family	Kiwifruit
Amaryllidaceae	Amaryllis or Onion family	Garlic, leek, onion, shallot, chives
Anacardiaceae	Cashew or Sumac family	Cashew, pistacia, mango, marula
Annonaceae	Custard apple family	Anona, pawpaw (papaya), ylang-ylang
Apiaceae	Carrot or Parsley family	Cumin, anise, caraway, carrot, fennel , chervil, cicely, coriander, cilantro, dill, wormwood a, lovage, parsley, parsnip
Asteraceae or Compositae	Aster, Daisy or Sunflower family	Salsify, scorzonera, lettuce, endive, chicory, celery b, angelica b, florence fennel, chamomile, tansy, tarragon
Boraginaceae	Borage or Forget-me-not family	Borage, comfrey, oyster plant, bugloss
Brassicaceae	Cabbage or Crucifer family	Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, rapeseed, radish, horseradish, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, daikon, kale, kohl rabi, mustard, swede, watercress, savoys, rocket, land cress
Bromeliaceae	Bromeliad family	Pineapple
Chenopodiaceae*	Goosefoot or beet family	Beetroot, chard, spinach, silverbeet, quinoa, goosefoot, good king henry, fat hen
Convolvulaceae	Blindweed or Morning Glory family	Sweet potato, water spinach
Cucurbitaceae	Squash and pumpkin family	Squash, gourd, pumpkin, zucchini, marrow, melons, cucumber, luffa, watermelon, gherkin
Ebenaceae	Persimmon and ebony family	Persimmon
Ericaceae	Heath or Heather family	Cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, bilberry, loganberry
Fabaceae or Leguminosae	Legume, pea or bean family	Pea, beans, soybean, chickpea, alfalfa, peanut, carob, liquorice, vetch, lupin, lentil
Grossulariaceae	Currant and gooseberry family	Gooseberry, currant
Lamiaceae	Mint family	Basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender
Lauraceae	Laurel family	Bay laurel, avocado, cinnamon
Lythraceae	Loosestrife family	Pomegranate,
Malvaceae	Mallow or Hibiscus family	Okra, rosella, cocoa, mallow
Moraceae	Mulberry and fig family	Fig, mulberry
Musaceae	Banana family	Banana, plantain
Myrthaceae	Myrtle family	Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, eucalyptus, brush cherry
Oleaceae	Olive family	Olive, ashes, lilac, jasmine
Passifloraceae	Passion flower family	Granadilla (passion fruit),
Poaceae	True grass family	Maize (corn), wheat, millet, rye, oat, ryegrass, sorghum, rice, barley, lemongrass
Polygonaceae	Buckwheat family	Buckwheat, sorrel, rhubarb
Rosaceae	Rose family	Plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, almonds, apples, pears, quiches, raspberries, strawberries, blackberry, cotoneaster, hawthorn, medlars, loquats, damson, gage, loganberry, boysenberry, cloudberry, dewberry, wineberry
Rutaceae	Citrus or Rue family	Orange, lemon, grapefruit, lime, kumquat, curry tree,  mandarin, calamansi, common rue, clementine
Sapindaceae	Soapberry family	Litchi (lychee), maple, horse chestnut
Solanaceae	Nightshade or Potato family	Potato, tomato, eggplant, peppers (capsicum), tomatillo, cape gooseberry
Verbenaceae	Verbena/Vervain family	Verbenas (lemon)
Vitaceae	Grape family	Grapevine
Zingiberaceae	Ginger family	Ginger, turmeric, cardamom

* As of 2003 the Chenopodiaceae family has been combined with the Amaranthaceae family. The Amatanthaceae family has been divided into Amaranthoideae subfamily, for amaranths, and Chenopodiodeae subfamily, for the chenopods.
a Wormwood family discrepancies, may belong to Asteraceae. Please see comments section.

^bCelery/Angelica family discrepancies, may belong to Apiaceae. Please see comments section.

Botanical Definitions

Vegetable

This is any edible part of a plant, and in my opinion excludes the fruiting part (seeds containing structure). Vegetables therefore are stems, leaves, flowers, roots, bulbs and tubers.

Stem vegetables include: Celery, kohl rabi, asparagus

Leaves: Lettuce, cabbage, spinach

Flowers: Broccoli, cauliflower

Roots: Beet, carrots, parsnip, radish, turnip, swede, salsify

Tubers: Potato, yam, sweet potato, yaro

Bulbs: Onions, garlic



Vegetables

Herbs

Herbs are soft plants that do not form permanent woody tissue and may be annual, biennial or perennial and regularly form shrubs. The term ‘herb’ applies mostly to plants with some medicinal or culinary property.
Fruits

The botanical definition of a fruit is the mature ovary of a flower and contains seeds. The fleshy part of the fruit may be soft or dry. Therefore fruits can be apples, pears and mango with which we are all familiar, but fruits also include tomatoes, cucumber, beans, squash and eggplant.

As with everything in life fruits can be differentiated into various fruit types, based upon the number of ovaries and overall fruit structure:

A quick look at fruits

Simple			Compound
Dry	Fleshy	Multiple	Aggregate
Dehiscent - pea	Drupes – plum	Accessory - strawberry	Syconium – fig
Indehiscent - wall nut	Berry – redcurrant	Balausta - pomegranate	Sorosis - mulberry
	Pome - apple

Simple fruits

Fruit develops from a single/compound ovary of a single flower with a single. These include dry and fleshy fruits. Dry fruits are further classified into dehiscent (split upon ripening) and indehiscent (do not split upon ripening).

Fleshy simple fruit include; drupes, berries (hesperidium, pepo) and pomes.

·         Drupes: ‘Stone fruit’, contains hard inedible pips - plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive

·         Berries: ‘Soft fruit’ containing many seeds in one fruit - redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, cranberry, pepper, eggplant

o   Hesperidium: Berry with a leathery rind and segmented fruit pulp - all citrus

o   Pepo: Berry with watery flesh and flat seeds – Cucurbit/gourd family (squash, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, watermelon)

·         Pomes: The fruits from the Rosaceae family that develop from a half-inferior ovary – apples, pears, rosehips, saskatoon berry



Squash - A berry!

Dry simple fruits include; dehiscent (follicle, legume, silique, capsule) and indehiscent (samara, achene, caryopsis, nut).

·         Dehiscent: Ovary splits upon maturing

o   Follicle: Pod formed from a single carpel and splits on one side – milkweed, peony, magnolia

o   Legume: Pod from a leguminous plant (fixes own nitrogen for growth) – pea, bean, soya, peanut

o   Silique: Long pods from the mustard family and splits from both sides – fruits/seeds of the cabbage family (not the cabbage/leafy part we eat!)

o   Capsule: Pod formed from two carpels – brazil nut, horse chestnut, poppy, lily,

·         Indehiscent: Ovary does not split upon maturing

o   Samara: Single seeded fruit with a flat and fibrous winged structure has formed over the ovary, to be carried by the wind – sycamore, elm seeds

o   Achene: Single seeded fruit – buckwheat, buttercup

o   Caryopsis: Single seeded fruit where the pericarp is fused to the seed – cereals, grass seeds

o   Nut: Hard fruit or shell encasing the seed – acorn, hazelnut, wall nut

Pea - dehiscent, legume

Compound Fruits

Fruit develops from multiple ovaries. Two categories of compound fruit exist - aggregate and multiple fruits

·         Multiple: Coalesced ovaries of an entire interflorescence (the flowering structure)

o   Accessory: Fruit not formed from the ovary, but from an exterior nonovarian tissue, such as the receptacle, which forms the base of the flower stem – strawberry

o   Balausta: Old term for the fruits of the pomegranate - it is now known as a 'Hyp', a multiple of drupes

·         Aggregate: Many ovaries attached to a single receptacle forming fruitlets

o   Syconium: ‘Receptacle fruit’, flowers/fruit and seeds form within the stem/receptacle. Each fig has its own specialist fig wasp for pollination, fig and wasp are dependent on the other and co-evolve together – Ficus family, figs

o   Sorosis: The fruit is formed by the consolidation of many ovaries – mulberry

Multiple fruit, Strawberry

This is a simple guide; as many fruits fall into multiple categories and some are further differentiated in the main categories. Check out http://www.northernontarioflora.ca/fruits_term_types.cfm for a complete list – but make sure you know the botany terms for flower and fruit structures first J or refer to this amazing book form Oxford University Press – The New Oxford Book of Food Plants or the Saving Seeds book References.

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