Fernaldia pandurata

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Loroco

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Subfamily:	Apocynoideae
Genus:	Fernaldia
Species:	F. pandurata

Binomial name

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).

[edit] References

S. Facciola (1990). Cornucopia. A source book of edible plants. 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