Edible ornamental plants 1

Ground Cover
Ananas Comosus Piña
Arachis Hypogaea Mani
Mimosa Pudica Makahiya

Shrubs
Allium Sativum Bawang, Garlic
Citrus Microcarpa Kalamansi
Capsicum Annuum Sili
Carmona retusa Tsaang Gubat, Fookien Tea
Lycopersicum Esculentum Kamatis
Momordica Charantia Ampalaya
Oregano Vulgare Oregano
Zingiber Oficinale Luya, Ginger

Trees
Artocarpus Heterophylla Langka
Averrhoa Carambola Balimbing
Carica Papaya Papaya
Chrysopyllum Cainito Caimito
Citrus Grandis Suha
Ficus Pseudopalma Niyog-niyogan
Mangifera Indica Mangga
Moringa Oleifera Malunggay
Psidium Guajava Bayabas
Sandoricum Koejape Santol
Syszygium Jambolanum Duhat
Tamarindus Indicus Tamarind

Palms
Cocos Nucifera Coconut
Phoenix Dactylifera Date Palm
 Edible ornamental plants 2

GROUND COVER

Pinya
(Ananas comosus)
GROWTH HABIT: Evergreen, 0.5 to 1.5 meters high
HABITAT: Cultivated
WATER REQUIREMENT: Well-drained
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Pineapples are rosette-
forming, herbaceous monocots. Stems are short
and inconspicuous in the center of the rosette of
long linear leaves have spines at tips and margins,
except ‘Smooth Cayenne’ types which lack
marginal spines.

Mani
(Arachis Pintoi)
GROWTH HABIT: Stoloniferous, 6 inches tall
HABITAT: Well suited to the hot climate and sandy
soils
WATER REQUIREMENT: Well-drained
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Commonly called peanut
or groundnut, is unusual in that its flowers are
pollinated above ground, but the flower stalk and
ovary then extend down into the ground to
produce fruits below ground.

Makahiya
(Mimosa pudica)
GROWTH HABIT: Shrubby, length of 1.5 m (5 ft)
HABITAT: South America and Central America
WATER REQUIREMENT: Average
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Also called sensitive plant,
sleepy plant and the toch-me-not. A creeping
annual or perennial herb often grown for its
curiosity value. The compound leaves fold inward
and droop when touched or shaken, to protect
them from predators, re-opening minutes later.
 Edible ornamental plants 3

SHRUBS

Bawang, Garlic
(Allium Sativum)
GROWTH HABIT: Grows up to 1.2 m (4 ft) in height
HABITAT: native to central Asia and has long been
a staple in the Mediterranean region
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Allium sativum is a bulbous
plant. It produces hermaphrodite flowers.
Pollination occurs by bees and other insects.

Kalamansi
(Citrus microcarpa)
GROWTH HABIT: Grown primarily as an ornamental
plant in gardens, and in pots and container
gardens on terraces andpatios. The plant is
especially attractive when the fruits are present.
HABITAT: The plant is frost sensitive and therefore
limited outdoors to frost-free climates (such as
Florida, coastal California, south Texas, and Hawaii
in the United States)
WATER REQUIREMENT: Average
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Kalamansi is a smooth and
slightly spiny plant. Leaflets are elliptic to oblong-elliptic. Flowers are axillary,
solitary, rarely in pairs, white, and short-stalked. Fruit is yellow when ripe, nearly
spherical.

Sili
(Capsicum Annuum)
GROWTH HABIT: Densely branched and up to 60
centimeters (24 in) tall
HABITAT: Native to southern North America and
northern South America.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: An attractive, upright
shrub with small, white, pendant flowers and
elongated, yellow, orange or fed fruits. (berries)

Tsaang Gubat, Fookien Tea

(Carmona retusa)
GROWTH HABIT: Shrub growing to 4 m height with
 Edible ornamental plants 4

long, straggling, slender branches

Leaves: usually 10–50 mm long and 5–30 mm wide
HABITAT: Deciduous during the dry season
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Tsaang gubat is an erect, very branched shrub.
Leaves are in clusters on short branches, obovate to oblong-obovate entire
or somewhat toothed or lobed near the apex and pointed at the base, short
stalked and rough on the upper surface. Flowers are white, small, axillary,
solitary.

Kamatis
(Lycopersicum Esculentum)
GROWTH HABIT: Typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10
ft) in height
HABITAT: Originated in the South American Andes
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Kamatis in a hairy annual
herb, with ascending or spreading hairy and
branched stems. Stems is weak often sprawling
over the ground or vines over other plants. Leaves
are pinnate and alternate, oblong-ovate. Fruit is
variable in shape; in the wild and naturalized forms
it is rounded or pear-shaped.

Ampalaya
(Momordica Charantia)
GROWTH HABIT: Grows to 5 m
HABITAT: Northern Hemisphere
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A climbing vine, it is
commonly seen growing on walls and shrubs in the
tropics. The textured leaves looks as though a bite
has been taken from giving the plant its Latin
name Momordica which means to bite.

Oregano
(Oregano Vulgare)
GROWTH HABIT: Shrubby, 24 inches (20–80 cm) high
HABITAT: Slopes, roadsides
 Edible ornamental plants 5

WATER REQUIREMENT: Well-drained

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Oregano is a perennial plant. Leaves are dark green,
oval and opposite. Flowers are white, pink, or purple, formed in erect spikes.

Luya, Ginger
(Zingiber Oficinale)
GROWTH HABIT: 3 to 4 feet
HABITAT: Began in South Asia and has since spread
to East Africa and the Caribbean
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Ginger has a perennial
rhizome or stem which creeps and increases in size
underground. Roots grow from the bottom of the
rhizome and shoots from the upper surface.

TREES

Jackfruit/Langka
(Artocarpus heterophyllus)
GROWTH HABIT: Tree, 30 to 70 feet
HABITAT: South and Southeast Asia
WATER REQUIREMENT: Normal
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Jackfruit is a handsome
 Edible ornamental plants 6

tree, with evergreen, alternate, glossy and leathery leaves. The fruit has a
unique compound structure. The exterior of the fruit is green or yellow when
ripe and composed of numerous hard, cone-like points attached to a thick
and rubbery, pale yellow or whitish wall.

Balimbing
(Averrhoa carambola)
GROWTH HABIT: A small tree growing to a height of
6 meters or less
HABITAT: Settled areas at low altitude
WATER REQUIREMENT: Average
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The skin is thin, smooth and
waxy and turns a light to dark yellow when ripe.
The flesh is translucent and light yellow to yellow in
color.

Papaya
(Carica papaya)
GROWTH HABIT: Tree, 16 to 33 ft (5 to 10 m) tall
HABITAT: Tropical America, Asia
WATER REQUIREMENT: Normal
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A small erect, usually
unbranched, fast-growing tree. Trunk is soft and
grayish, marked with large petiole-scars. Leaves
are somewhat rounded in outline.
Caimito
(Chrysophyllum cainito)
GROWTH HABIT: Tree, 25 to 100 ft tall (7.9 to 30.5 m)
HABITAT: Central America, Southeast Asia, West
Indies
WATER REQUIREMENT: Moderate
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The underside shines with a
golden color when seen from a distance. The tiny
flowers are purplish white and have a sweet
fragrant smell.
 Edible ornamental plants 7

Suha
(Citrus Grandis)
GROWTH HABIT: Largest citrus fruit, 15–25
centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) in diameter, and usually
weighing 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb).
HABITAT: Native to Southeast Asia
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Suha is a small tree, 6 to 13
meters in height, with long, sharp, solitary spines.
Leaflets are entire or nearly so, sparingly hairy
beneath and on the margins, ovate-oblong to
elliptic, and 8 to 12 centimeters long. Petioles are
obovate and broadly winged. Flowers are white,
fragrant, and crowded in short, axillary racemes. Fruit is large, abovoid to
spherical, up to 20 centimeters in diameter. Rind is very thick and spongy,
easily removed from the segments of the fruit. Pulp is pale yellow, pink or red,
sweet or acrid, with large, distinct vesicles.

Niyog-niyogan
(Ficus Pseudopalma)
GROWTH HABIT: Ligneous vine that can reach from
2.5 meters to up to 8 meters.
HABITAT: Tropical areas.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Leaves are crowded at
the end of the stems, spreading and short-petioled,
oblanceolate with a cordate base and an acute
apex.

Mangga
(Mangifera indica)
GROWTH HABIT: Tree, 10-40 meters
HABITAT: South Asia
WATER REQUIREMENT: Average
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Leaves are oblong to
oblong-lanceolate. The flowers are yellow, small,
borne on erect, and hairy panicles, which as often
as long as the leaves.
 Edible ornamental plants 8

Malunggay
(Moringa oleifera)
GROWTH HABIT: Tree, 10m in height
HABITAT: Southern foothills of the Himalayas in
north-western India
WATER REQUIREMENT: Moderate
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The bark has a whitish-grey
color and is surrounded by thick cork. Young shoots
have purplish or greenish-white hairy bark. The tree
has an open crown of dropping, fragile branches
and the leaves build up a feathery foliage of
tripinnate leaves.

Byabas
(Psidium guaiava)
GROWTH HABIT: Trees maintained at 6 to 10 ft (1.8-
3.0 m) in height
HABITAT: Tropical places
WATER REQUIREMENT: To have a productive guava
tree requires watering it during times when there is
no rain or it is exceptionally hot
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Guava is easy to
recognize because of its smooth, thin, copper-
colored bark that flakes off, showing the greenish
layer beneath and also because of the attractive, “bony” aspect of its trunk.
Santol
(Sandoricum Koejape)
GROWTH HABIT: Grows on a fast-growing tree that
may reach 150 feet in height
HABITAT: Native to former Indochina and
Peninsular Malaysia
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A tree growing with softly
hairy young branches and leaves. Leaves are
groups of 3 leaflets, elliptic to oblong-ovate, with
pointed tips and round bases.

Duhat
(Syszygium Jambolanum)
GROWTH HABIT: Reach heights of up to 30 m and
can live more than 100 years
 Edible ornamental plants 9

HABITAT: Native to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the

Philippines, and Indonesia.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: White branchlets and reddish young shoots. Leaves
are broad tipped, opposite, shiny and leathery elliptic. Flowers, small, pinkish,
in clusters, petal arrange to form a cup. Fruit is oval dark purple to black
fleshy and one seeded, with a sweet tastringent taste.

Tamarind
(Tamarindus Indica)
GROWTH HABIT: Woody, evergreen tree, 12 to 25
meters tall.
HABITAT: Tropical seasonally dry forest, woodland
and wooded grassland, often found along rivers
WATER REQUIREMENT: Average
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: It is a long lived tree with
high resistance to wind dark-gray and rough bark
and strong, supple branches that are gracefully
dropping at the ends. The mass of bright-green,
fine, feathery foliage is composed of pinnate
leaves, each having 10-20 pairs of oblong leaflets which fold at night.

PALMS

Coconut
(Cocos Nucifera)
GROWTH HABIT: Erect palm, grows to 25 m high
HABITAT: Native of the Western Pacific
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Its bark is smooth and grey, marked by ringes scar left
by fallen leaf bases. The leaves from 4 to 6 m long are pinnate; they consist of
linear lanceolate, more or less recurved, rigid, bright-green leaflets.

Date Palm
(Phoenix Dactylifera)
GROWTH HABIT: Grows 70–75 feet (21–23 m) in
 Edible ornamental plants 10

height
HABITAT: Originated from lands around Iraq
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The leaves are with spines on the petiole, and
pinnate, with about 150 leaflets. Dates contain 20-70 calories each,
depending on size and variety.