Trees with Edible Leaves provides an overview of a remarkable group of crops, with details on nutrition and cultivation techniques. Over 100 cultivated species of trees, shrubs, and cacti that are grown for their edible leaves and shoots are described in detail, for both cold and tropical climates.

Chapter One provides an overview of these tree vegetables. Where do they originate? What impact could they have on nutrient deficiencies? What climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits do they offer? And what other benefits do they offer? 

Chapter Two provides an overview of growing these species. Despite their great diversity and disparate origins, virtually all are grown using the same basic techniques. Here we describe those practices and how they are integrated into complex agroforestry systems. Basic information is also provided on propagation and care of trees with edible leaves. The remaining chapters profile cultivated species. Each profile provides a description, details of climate and soil suitability, nutrition, propagation, and growing systems. Because this is a global guide, wherever possible we provide names for all species in the world’s twenty most widely-spoken languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Urdu, German, Japanese, Swahili, Marathi, Telugu, West Punjabi, Wú Chinese, Tamil, and Turkish. Names are also provided in the languages of the region where the crop was originally taken into cultivation. Each crop is labeled with English name and one name from its homeland.

Chapter Three profiles species for cold climates, including both temperate and boreal regions. Chapter Four focuses on species for tropical and subtropical drylands. And Chapter Five describes species for the humid tropics and subtropics. 

Appendix A provides detailed nutritional information for fifty-one species (data for the remainder were unavailable).

Appendix B includes our recommended resources for further learning.