Plantas Comestibles de Centroamerica

by Fabio Rojas Carballo and Diana Ávila Solera

Originally I acquired this book while in Panama as a downloaded document. After some time I was able to acquire other copies of it for our fieldwork. It is probably the single most substantive text on edible wild plants of Central America. Without doubt there are hundreds of species which could be included after further research and fieldwork. My inkling is that there are several thousand more species to be documented as edible, meaning that this is a start.

The book has good photos, covers some of the vernacular names for different regions and it attests to means of consumption and preparation. It is one of the only a few works where my favorite Central American Cucurbit, Cionosicyos macranthus is represented. Great handbook size for fieldwork. I’ve destroyed a couple of copies to date!