Depth, mass and palatability of geophyte underground storage organs of the Cape Floristic Region

The dataset spans 1,828 individual plant underground storage organs (USOs) sampled from diverse vegetation types across the coastal forelands of the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. The data include USOs from 153 species, 54 genera, and 22 families. The depth of burial and wet mass of each USO were recorded, and USOs were categorised by growth form type and palatability to human foragers (details below). Of the sampled USOs, 363 were bulbs, 955 were corms, 213 were rhizomes, and 297 were tubers, while 1588 were palatable and 240 unpalatable.