Apios americana

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Apios americana, sometimes called the hog peanut, potato bean, or groundnut (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name groundnut) is a perennial vine native to eastern North America, and bears edible beans and large edible tubers. It grows to 3-4 m long, with pinnate leaves 8-15 cm long with 5-7 leaflets. The flowers are red-brown to purple, produced in dense racemes. The fruit is a legume (pod) 6-12 cm long.

The tubers are crunchy and nutritious, with a high content of starch and especially protein. The plant was one of the most important food plants of pre-European North America, and is now being developed for domestication.

Read about Apios americana in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Apios tuberosa, Moench. Groundnut. Wild Bean. Four to 8 ft., climbing over bushes: root bearing strings of edible tubers, 1-2 in. long: lfts. 5-7, ovate-lanceolate: fls fragrant, chocolate-brown, the standard very broad and turned back, the keel long, incurved and scythe-shaped. July, Aug.—Common in low grounds and swamps. The fr. often fails to mature. Prop, by the tubers. 2-4 of which should be planted together at a depth of 3-4 in.; also, by seeds. Grows well in the wild border, in any loose, rich soil. Under these conditions, the plant covers a trellis or other support in a comparatively short time. Dry tubers offered by seedsmen are likely to start slowly. The brown of the fls. is a very unusual color in hardy herbs. Likely to become a weed in rockeries and wild gardens. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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