Common Name:Carissa
Description
Carissa spinarum, the conkerberry or bush plum, is a large shrub of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Indian Ocean.[1] It is most well known in Australia, where it is also called currant bush or, more ambiguously, “native currant” or even “black currant”. It is, however, neither closely related to plums (Prunus) nor to true currants (Ribes), which belong to entirely different lineages of eudicots. In India, it is also called wild karanda /wild karavanda, referring to the related karanda (C. carandas). Carissa spinarum is often discussed under its many obsolete synonyms.Read more
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Meet the crops
Psidium guajava
Common Name:Guava
Description
Psidium guajava is a large dicotyledonous shrub, or small evergreen tree, generally 3-10 m high, many branches; stems crooked, bark light to reddish brown, thin, smooth, continuously flaking; root system generally superficial and very extensive, frequently extending well beyond the canopy, there are some deep roots but no distinct taproot.
Leaves opposite, simple; stipules absent, petiole short, 3-10 mm long; blade oblong to elliptic, 5-15 x 4-6 cm, apex obtuse to bluntly acuminate, base rounded to subcuneate, margins entire, somewhat thick and leathery, dull grey to yellow-green above, slightly downy below, veins prominent, gland dotted.Read more
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Plectranthus rotundifolius
Common Name: African Potato
Description
Plectranthus rotundifolius or Solenostemon rotundifolius, commonly known as native or country potato in Africa and called “Chinese potato” in India is a perennial herbaceous plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to tropical Africa. It is cultivated for its edible tubers primarily in West Africa, as well as more recently in parts of Asia, especially India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
P. rotundifolius is closely related to the coleus plants widely cultivated as ornamentals and is often classified as a member of the genus Solenostemon rather than Plectranthus. It was formerly placed in the now-defunct genus Coleus, most of whose members have now been re-assigned to the genus Solenostemon. . . . .Read more
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Citrullus lanatus
Common Name: Watermelon
Description
Citrullus lanatus is a plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) flowering plant originally from West Africa. It is cultivated for its fruit. The subdivision of this species into two cultivars, watermelons (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) var. lanatus) and citron melons (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides (L. H. Bailey) Mansf.), originated with the erroneous synonymization of Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai and Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. by L.H.Bailey in 1930. Molecular data including sequences from the original collection of Thunberg and other relevant type material, show that the sweet dessert watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad.) and the bitter wooly melon . . . .Read more
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