List of food plants native to the Americas facts for kids

A number of popular and commercially important food plants are native to the Americas. These foods were not introduced into Old World cuisines until the Columbian Exchange touched off by the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Some of the more notable such food plants are listed below. Genera included in parentheses are exclusively American.

Grains
Legumes
Nightshades
Fruits
Nuts
Other
Images for kids

Grains

Corn (Zea)
Quinoa
Several (though not all) species of amaranth

Legumes

Pinto, black, kidney, navy, and lima beans (Phaseolus)

Nightshades

A variety of tomato cultivars

Cubanelle peppers

Potato
Tomato
Bell and chili peppers (Capsicum)

Fruits

Apple guavas

Pineapple (Ananas)
Guava (Psidium and Acca)
Passion fruit
Papaya (Carica and Vasconcellea)
Cherimoya, sugar-apple, and soursop
Pawpaw (Asimina)
Dragon fruit/pitaya (Hylocereus and Stenocereus)
Concord grape
Huckleberry
Several (though not all) species of:
- Strawberry
- Blueberry
- Cranberry
- Raspberry
- Blackberry
- Plum
- Cherry

Nuts

Other

Cocoa (Theobroma)
Vanilla
Cassava (Manihot)
Sweet potato
Jicama (Pachyrhizus)
Jerusalem artichoke and sunflower (Helianthus)
Avocado
Agave
Pumpkin and squash (Cucurbita)
Chayote

Images for kids

Quinoa is native only to a relatively small region of the Andes mountains in South America

All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:

List of food plants native to the Americas Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.