A very prolific and easy to find edible weed. Young leaves are eaten raw or cooked as a potherb. They can be available all year round if the winter is not too severe. Very nutritious, they can be added to salads whilst the cooked leaves can scarcely be distinguished from spring spinach. The leaves contain […]
We watched a fascinating TV programme recently where a team of historical costume makers were tasked with making a high status gown as shown in a 15th century painting by Jan Van Eyck called the Arnolfini portrait . They used material produced using modern methods, but also examined how the dark green wool cloth would have […]
Plants For A Future have an excellent search tool to help you find plants for your project out of the 7700 available in the database. The Search tool can now be found on the homepage at pfaf.org. Search techniques includes: search by name search by keyword you can browse plants common and Latin names by […]
OneZoom is committed to heightening awareness about the diversity of life on earth and its evolutionary history. Here you can explore the tree of life in a new way: it’s like a map, everything is on one page, all you have to do is use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out. How to […]
The Siberian Pea Tree – a species of legume – is a very easily grown deciduous shrub/small tree growing to 6m (20ft) by 4m (15ft) at a fast rate and yielding a good crop of edible seeds. Leaves are alternate and compound with small leaflets and can be light to dark green. Small, yellow fragrant […]
Adansonia digitata are large deciduous trees with a large thick trunk (possibly the thickest in the world) that is thick-boled (bottle-shaped) reaching a diameter of 10-14 m (33-46 ft). The common name baobab is derived from Arabic meaning “father of many seeds?. Usually solitary individuals surviving well in dry climates and tolerating fire. They can […]
An annual/perennial growing to 0.6m (2ft). Leaves are eaten raw. They can be finely chopped and added sparingly to salads or used as a flavouring for cooked dishes. A piquant flavour, somewhat resembling rocket (Eruca sativa), but with a sharp aftertaste. Wall Rocket prefers dry soils and dislikes shade. Very resistant to heat, this plant […]
The strawberry tree is a beautiful small evergreen tree or shrub that can occasionally reach 9m tall and 8m wide, though it is usually rather smaller. There are several named forms and some of these are no more than 2–3m tall. The plant produces beautiful lily-of-the-valley type flowers in late autumn and is particularly eye-catching […]
Azadirachta indica, the Neem trees also know as Nimtree and Indian Lilac is a large deep-rooted fast growing plant with many uses including excellent medicinal properties. Neem has a rounded spreading crown and a straight trunk with thick grey bark. The 35cm long leaves are alternate with 7-17 leaflets each 6-8 cm long. When ripe […]
Watercress is mainly used as a garnish or as an addition to salads, the flavour is strong with a characteristic hotness. Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. It has a reputation as a spring tonic, and this is its main season of use, though it can be harvested for most of the year and […]
