Edible Ornamental Loroco Fernaldia pandurata

Loroco is native to Central America, and was called Quilite, which in the indigenous language means “Edible herb”. It is a perennial plant that produces flowers from May to October in El Salvador, but with irrigation can produce year-round. The Loroco plant is a tropical flowering woody vine with ornamental flowers. It grows wild in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and prefers a temperature range between 68 and 90 F.

The flowers are harvested and used in the cuisine of El Salvador and some other countries in Central America. It has a unique, pungent flavor that is used in 'pupusas', a corn-based food popular in El Loroco. Loroco tastes "green" with overtones of nuts. The closest taste perhaps to compare the "green" part to is chard, or a cross between mild broccoli and squash

Loroco is propagated principally by seed, but can also be propagated by cuttings. It takes about three to four months from seed to flowering.

The leaves can be 1 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches (4 to 22 cm) long and 1 1/2 to 5 inches (1 1/2 to 12 cm) wide. The vine produces flowers in clusters of 10 to 32, averaging 25 per cluster, that in turn, if unharvested, produce pods up to 13 inches (34 cm) long. Seeds are very hard to find. Scarce Seeds available here.

.