Echites panduratus

Echites panduratus (common name: loroco [loˈɾoko]) is a climbing vine with edible flowers, widespread in El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in Central America as well as parts of Mexico.[1][2][3] The name "loroco" is used throughout Mesoamerica to refer to the species.[4]

Loroco
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Echites
Species:
E. panduratus
Binomial name
Echites panduratus
A. DC. (1844)
Synonyms[1]
  • Amblyanthera pandurata (A.DC.) Müll.Arg. (1860)
  • Angadenia pandurata (A.DC.) Miers (1878)
  • Echites barbatus Sessé & Moc. (1893) not Desv. ex Ham. (1825) nor D. Dietr. (1839)
  • Echites pinguifolius Standl. (1930)
  • Fernaldia brachypharynx Woodson (1932)
  • Fernaldia glabra (Molina) Lundell (1976)
  • Fernaldia pandurata (A.DC.) Woodson (1932)
  • Fernaldia pandurata var. glabra Molina (1952)
  • Mandevilla potosina Brandegee (1912)
  • Mandevilla velutina K.Schum. (1895)
  • Urechites karwinskii Müll.Arg. (1860)

Description

Echites panduratus is an herbaceous vine with oblong-elliptical to broadly ovate leaves 4–13 centimetres (1.6–5.1 in). 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 millimetres (0.039–0.079 in) long; calyx lobes ovate, acute or obtuse, 2–3 mm. long; corolla white within, greenish outside.[4]

Range

Echites panduratus ranges from northeastern Mexico to Costa Rica.[1]

Uses

Echites panduratus is an important 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.

Echites panduratus: Cropped buds for cooking

References
  1. Echites panduratus A.DC. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  2. Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (2009). Flora Mesoamericana 4(1): 1-855. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.
  3. Morales, J.F. (2009). Estudios en las Apocynaceae neotropicales XXXIX: revisión de las Apocynoideae y Rauvolfioideae de Honduras. Anales del Jardin Botanico de Madrid 66: 217–262.
  4. Azurdia, César; Loroco (Fernaldia pandurata, Apocynaceae), a Mesoamerican species in the process of domestication
  • 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. Economic Botany 44, 301–310.

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