Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote or quoted:
In article , Tim Tyler writes

I've used the "Taxonomy Browser" - at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi

IIRC, the Taxonomy Browser only contains those plants for which DNA
sequences are available in GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ/Sanger Institute. Therefore
it is possible that some plants cultivated for food are not listed
therein. (Crop plants will be disproportionately listed, but need not
all be present.)

Also, the Taxonomy Browser isn't completely accurate.

I'm not above using other sources of information - where available.

...to prepare a family tree of edible plants:

Is tobacco really edible?

;-)

I reserve the right to include a few species that people only chew on...

http://sprouting.org/taxonomy/plants/

You've got Apiales and Lamiales in twice. You might like to check the
tree for Asterids - it doesn't look right, but the classification might
have changed again. Also Fagaceae and Betulaceae should be under
Fagales, rather than directly under Eurosids I. I recommend the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website for the latest word on classification. See
URL:http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/.

I think you should have kola (Cola acuminata - Malvaceae/Byttneroideae),
and jute (Corchorus olitorius - Malvaceae/Grewioideae). (Jute is a salad
vegetable as well as a fibre crop.)

The zed in Zibethinus shouldn't be capitalised.

Thanks for these points - I'll look into them.

I only capitized the "z" out of my sincere regard for all things Durian ;-)

chocolate, okra and durian most likely share their pentagonal symmetry -
and other properties - through a genetic relationship.

These three species are all malvaceous, but not all malvaceous plants
have 5 sepals and petals - several, including Sparrmannia, have 4, and
Octolobus has 8 sepals (no petals). A corolla of 4 or 5 petals is a
trait shared by a large subclade of the eudicots - last I tried I failed
to work out exactly how large - so these three species share a closer
genetic relationship that indicated by the pentagonal symmetry.

I see, I think ;-)

There's other malvaceous plants used as food, but perhaps they're not
'major'. (But I would have thought that several were more used than
Malva neglecta.) As far as I know cottonseed oil is only used in animal
feeds. [...]

Alas, I am rathr ignorant of all things mallow - but was keen to include
/something/ from this branch of the family.

The only "mallow family" plant's I've consumed personally are okra,
chocolate and durian. However, I'm extremely curious about other
members of the family - since they plainly have remarkable relatives.

I guess that you ought to have the currants under Ribes, as well as
gooseberry. (Ribes nigrum and Ribes rubrum, IIRC.)

Black, white and red currants were all conspicuous by their absence.
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