API Documentation

A free REST API for querying the Edible Plant Database. Access 27,000+ plant species with scientific names, edible uses, cultivation details, nutrition data, lookalikes, photos, and more — all as JSON.

Quick start

Create a free account using just your email.

Generate a key

Go to your account page and click "Generate API Key".

Start querying

Include your key in the Authorization header.

Authentication

Include your API key in the Authorization header of every request:

curl https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/plants/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"

All API keys start with epdb_live_. Keep your key secret — anyone with it can use your quota.

Rate limits

The free tier includes 1,000 requests per day per API key. The quota resets at midnight UTC. If you hit the limit you'll get a 429 Too Many Requests response.

Every response includes these headers so you can track your usage:

X-RateLimit-Limit — your daily quota
X-RateLimit-Remaining — requests left today

Endpoints

GET /api/v1/search

Full-text search across plant names, descriptions, edible uses, and geographic distribution. Supports filtering by family, country, and edible part.

Query parameters:

q (required) — search query (e.g. "mango", "Brazil", "edible leaves")
family — filter by botanical family (e.g. "Rosaceae")
country — filter by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g. "BR")
edible_part — filter by edible part: Fruit, Leaves, Seeds & Nuts, Roots & Tubers, Flowers, Shoots & Stems, Mushroom, Spice, Cereal & Grain, Seaweed, Sap & Oil
limit — max results (1-100, default 20)
offset — pagination offset (default 0)

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/search?q=strawberry&country=US&edible_part=Fruit" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/plants

Browse all plants with pagination. Also supports search and filters (same parameters as /search).

Query parameters:

q — optional search query
family, country, edible_part — filters (same as /search)
limit — max results (1-100, default 20)
offset — pagination offset (default 0)

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/plants?family=Rosaceae&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/plants/:id

Full details for a single plant — every field in the database, plus images, lookalikes, nutrition data, and country distribution.

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/plants/200" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/random

Get a random plant with full details. Great for "plant of the day" features or discovery.

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/random" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/families

List all botanical families with plant counts.

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/families" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/families/:name

Plants within a specific family. Supports pagination.

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/families/Rosaceae?limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

GET /api/v1/countries/:code

Plants found in a specific country. Use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (e.g. US, CA, AU, BR).

curl "https://edibleplantdb.org/api/v1/countries/CA?limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer epdb_live_YOUR_KEY"

Plant detail fields

The /api/v1/plants/:id and /api/v1/random endpoints return every field stored in the database:

Field	Type	Description
id	int	Unique plant ID
scientific_name	string	Binomial name (e.g. "Urtica dioica")
common_names	string	Comma-separated common names
family	string	Botanical family (e.g. "Urticaceae")
authority	string	Taxonomic authority citation
synonyms	string	Taxonomic synonyms
other_names	string	Alternative common names in various languages
edible_portion	string	Edible parts (e.g. "Leaves, Fruit, Seeds")
edible_uses	string	How edible parts are prepared and eaten
medicinal_uses	string	Traditional and modern medicinal applications
known_hazards	string	Toxicity warnings and safety precautions
description	string	Physical description and characteristics
description_wiki	string	Summary from Wikipedia (if available)
cultivation	string	Growing conditions, soil, climate, companions
propagation	string	How to propagate (seed, division, cuttings)
other_uses	string	Non-food uses (dye, fibre, fuel, etc.)
distribution	string	Geographic range description
found_in	string	Detailed regions/countries where found
production	string	Commercial production notes
other_info	string	Additional information
use	string	General use category
notes	string	Additional notes
references	string	Source references
wiki_url	string	Wikipedia article URL
base_species	string	Parent species (for subspecies/varieties)
inat_observations	int	iNaturalist observation count (popularity signal)
countries	string[]	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes where found
nutrition	object[]	Per-part nutrition: energy, protein, vitamins, minerals
images	object[]	Photos with URL, source, attribution, and CC license
lookalikes	object[]	Dangerous lookalikes with toxicity and identifying features
url	string	Canonical URL on edibleplantdb.org

Nutrition object

Each entry in the nutrition array contains per-100g values for a specific plant part:

Field	Unit
part	Plant part (e.g. "Leaves", "Fruit")
moisture_pct	%
energy_kj / energy_kcal	kJ / kcal
protein_g	grams per 100g
provitamin_a_ug	micrograms
vitamin_c_mg	milligrams
iron_mg / zinc_mg	milligrams

Error responses

All errors return JSON with an error field:

Status	Meaning
400	Invalid request (bad parameters)
401	Missing or invalid API key
404	Resource not found
429	Rate limit exceeded (resets at midnight UTC)
503	Search index temporarily unavailable

Terms of use

Non-commercial use — the API is free for personal projects, research, and educational use. For commercial applications, please get in touch.
Attribution required — if you build something public, please credit Edible Plant Database and note that plant data is sourced from Food Plants International by Bruce French.
Don't bulk-copy the database — the rate limit is designed to support real applications, not wholesale scraping. If you need the full dataset, download the ZIM file.
Content license — all plant data returned by the API is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Individual images may have different licenses — see each image's license field.
No warranty — this API is provided as-is. Data may contain errors. Never use this API as the sole source of truth for determining if a plant is safe to eat.

Ready to start?