What kind of vegatation grows it tropical weather?

Question

I'm writing a book, and the main part takes place on a continent that is on the equator. I need to know what kinds of naturally occuring foods, and/or common plants are found. This is assuming the people on this continent have had no contact with other people and are literally isolated. So before Europeans brought over their stuff to Latin and Central America, what kind of things naturally grew on the land, than the people widly used?

Well I know that the Amazon is the home to the largest biodiverse milieu in the world, so please just list the main crops that were native.

It's gonna be a book, not an encycopedia. =P

Please don't say I'm lazy. I don't have readily available access to the internet; just a few days a week, and I don't think I could find the answer pouring over books that are probably outdated.

It's not helpful to me, and it's just plain rude.

Answer 1

Cassava roots are a high starch root that is dug and eaten ground or roasted in a fire. Natives also make bread from these. Sweet potato is a similar mainstay. Also Tomato is native to these areas and the Europeans brought them home in the age of exploration. Banana comes in hundreds of different varieties growing wild in the tropics.

Answer 2

Max, You are probably not going to like my answer much. I have a thing about students trying to do their homework on Answers because I feel that they are not only lazy but cheating themselves out of an opportunity to learn. You are writing a book. You are an author, or at least attempting to be one. Do your own research! I greatly admire authors. A major part of writing is doing research. Trying to short cut the research by depending on Answers, you are not only cheating your self, but potentially thousands of readers of your book as well. A big part of writing is research. Now think about it, do you want the validity of your book to depend on some anomalous person called Farm Gal? Or would rather it be the result of your hard work carefully researching before you write? By the way, best of luck on your book.

Answer 3

potatoes are native to south America and corn is native to Mexico. bananas, citrus fruits, mangoes, and plantains were all native to central and south America. there were some wild grains and of course deer, American buffalo and other smaller wild life were numerous. plenty to eat if you got up and looked for it. i almost forgot wild nuts were plentiful.

Answer 4

Virtually everything grows here in the tropics. That is a tall order. Multi volume encyclopedias have been written on tropical vegetation.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
http://www.ntbg.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_agriculture
http://www.pjbs.org/pjnonline/fin508.pdf
http://www.nbaindia.org/docs/bulletin7-tubercropsinindia.pdf

Many more............
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&hs=jpt&q=tropical+plant+life&as_q=food+crops&btnG=Search%C2%A0within%C2%A0results