Fernaldia pandurata

Taxobox
name = Loroco


image_width = 250px
image_caption =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Gentianales
familia = Apocynaceae
subfamilia = Apocynoideae
genus = "Fernaldia"
species = "F. pandurata"
binomial = "Fernaldia pandurata"

"Fernaldia pandurata" (A. DC.) Woodson in family Apocynaceae (common name: loroco) is an edible flower that grows in El Salvador and other Central American countries. It is an important and popular source of food in Guatemala and El Salvador. The plant's buds and flowers are used for cooking in a variety of ways, including in pupusas.

The name "loroco" is used throughout Mesoamerica to identify "Fernaldia pandurata" (A. DC.) Woodson. In Guatemala, another species ("Fernaldia brachypharnynx" Woodson) is endemic to the province of Escuintla in the southern part of the country and shares the same common name (Azurdia,César).

"Fernaldia pandurata" is a herbaceous vine with oblong-elliptical to broadly ovate, leaves 4-13 cm. long, 1.5-8 cm broad, inflorescences are generally somewhat shorter than the leaves, with 8-18 flowers, the pedicels 4-6 mm. long; bracts ovate, 1-2 mm long; calyx lobes ovate, acute or obtuse, 2-3 mm. long; corolla white within, greenish outside (Azurdia,César).

References

* cite book
author=S. Facciola
date=1990
title=Cornucopia. A source book of edible plants
publisher=Kampong
* León, J., H. Goldbach & J. Engels, 1979: "Die genetischen Ressourcen der Kulturpflanzen Zentralamerikas.", Int. Genbank CATIE/GTZ in Turrialba, Costa Rica, San Juan de Tibás, Costa Rica, 32 pp.
* Morton, J. F., E. Alvarez & C. Quiñonez, 1990: Loroco, Fernaldia pandurata (Apocynaceae): a popular edible flower of Central America. - Econ. Bot. 44, 301-310.
* Azurdia, César. Loroco (Fernaldia pandurata, Apocynaceae), a Mesoamerican species in the process of domestication

External links

* [http://www.oirsa.org/Publicaciones/VIFINEX/Manuales/Manuales-2002/El-Salvador/Loroco.htm Loroco cultivation manual from oirsa.org BROKEN LINK (spanish)]
* [http://www.worldcrops.org/crops/Loroco.cfm Loroco in World Crops (English)]