Subtropical Permaculture Plant List

This list was created for a unique consulting assignment. Author, Rob Ziegler asked me to do some permaculture design and consulting to be included as back-story and setting for a science fiction novel he is writing. The following is an ongoing list of plants that may work in a sub-tropical setting.

Note: some of these plants necessitate creating favorable micro-climates.

The forest garden image below is included as a key where each plant would fit into a forest garden.

1: Mesquite Tree –  bean for flour, nitrogen fixing, over story tree (Full sun)  200 foot taproots draw water up.  Bee food tree from flowers. Extreme drought tolerance.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesquite

1: Fig – Good over-story tree fruit. Full sun only. – http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Ficus+carica

1,2: Casurina littoralis – Casurina, ironwood, sheoak. (and other casurina species) nitrogen fixing. http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Casuarina+littoralis. Pioneer tree in salty soil. Catches fog.

1: Araucaria  Araucaria bidwillii – Bunya tree, (HUGE (30-40m) over-story tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_bidwillii) extinct everywhere except OZ. Huge ‘pine-cones’ have multiple edible 2-inch nuts, a staple of aboriginal people.  (some cold adaptation would be necessary… Zero frost tolerance, could be crossed with other hardier araucaria species ) Some species are: “living fossil” upto 100 meters tall- see-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_mirabilis

1:  Redwood: Sequoia sempervirens – fog capturing over-story tree. Not typically found in sub-tropics, more of a warm temperate tree.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_sempervirens –

2: Tanoak, tanbark-oak (california native) – Notholithocarpus densiflorus “fog drip below the tanoak produced 59 inches of precipitation”  Also an edible acorn.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_drip

2: Date palm –  semi-shade or no shade, not drought tolerant, fruit. http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Diospyros+lotus

3: Trebizoid date – Elaeagnus orientalis – full sun – http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Elaeagnus+orientalis. Edible fruit, nitrogen fixer

2, Avocado – 

7: Passion fruit – vine

7: Grapes  – full sun

2,3: Pomegranate  – full sun – shrub

1,2: Olive – extreme drought tolerance, nitrogen fixing, food/oil production.

2,3: Citrus

2,3: Jujube

5: Purslane – ‘verdolaga” in Spanish – ground cover, high omega 3 more than any other leafy plant.

2,3: Pistachios

2: Carob

2: Almonds

2: Persimmon

4: Nopal cactus

4: Comfrey – dynamic accumulator, mulch.

4,5: All Mediterranean plants (artichoke, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lavender etc.)

1: Baobab – Baobabs store water in the trunk (up to 100,000 litres or 26,000 US gallons) to endure the harsh drought conditions particular to each region. Edible fruit weighs upto 3.3 lbs. , edible leaf in some species, source of vegetable oil in some species.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_digitata . This tree would need slight cold adaptation to live in LA.  (ZERO frost tolerance.) NOTE: its a stretch to grow this tree in L.A. , but its an interesting tree for its water storage capacity and fruit production.

Partial-shade plants:

3: Coffee –  medium- Light shade – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica  (zero frost tolerance)

3: Yerba mate –  medium- Light shade Ilex paraguariensis –

4-6: Celery, asparagus, mint, asian greens, arugula, chard, culinary herbs, kale, lettuce, scallions, bunching onions, Aloe vera, sweet potato

3: Chilean Hazel: – edible seed/nut.  http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Gevuina+avellana

Full shade:

9: Mushrooms – all types, shitake, oyster, etc.,

7: hog peanut (needs lots of water) http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Amphicarpaea+bracteata.

3: Chinese plum yew -Cephalotaxus fortunei – (good full-shade under story plant) http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cephalotaxus+fortunei

7: Fuschsia Splendens (edible fruit fuschsia. plant = 2m x 1m in size.) This is a full shade,partial or full sun epiphytic plant, needs humidity, grows on moss in tree branches without roots in the ground. http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Fuchsia+splendens

6: Tubers: Ginger, turmeric. (no frost tolerance)

… and the list goes on:

7: Chayote – vegetabale – vine

2: Jujube – fruit (P small tree)

1,2: Tamarind – seed pods and nitrogen fixing (P large tree)

4: sunchokes – jerusalem artichokes – tuber (P herbacious tall plant)

4-5: Mint

1: Jakfruit (Large overstory tree) Fruit, no cold tolerance

Vanilla bean

6,7: Sweet potatoes – P vine, tuber

4: Grains: amaranth, millet, sorghum

4: Beans: teparry, runner pean, cow peas, yard long bean, lima bean

7: Jacon – tuber root

2: Banana – high water use

2-3: Bamboo  – high water use

4: yucca

4: agave

1: Carob tree – edible bean

1: Chestnut tree – edible nut

3: Chaya – low water shrub, edible leaves (Yucatan favorite) (needs full sun)

1-3: Acacia specis – pioneer trees, nitrogen fixing, some edible beans

Misc: Chipilin, buffalo gourd, moringa,  peach palm

1-2: Curry tree – murraya koennigii

1-2: mexican pine nut

4: prickly pear

3-4: rooibos – south african tea

1-2: White mulberry –

1-2: Pecan nuts –

7: Kiwi –

2: Guava

2: Feijoa

2-3: macadamia