388 BOTANICON SINICUM. 
Il, 256. In Hu pei this plant is called F& Yb F ch'ou 
(stinking) Liang tsz‘. See Henry, Chin., pl., 86. 
233.— i DB pien tou. P., XXIV, 21. 7, XXXVI. p 
Pie lu:—Pien tou. Seeds, leaves and flowers officinal. 
Taste of the seeds sweet. Nature slightly warm. Non- — 
poisonous. eae 
T‘ao Huna-Kinc :—The pien tou is much cultivated. It 
climbs on fences and walls. The pods are eaten steamed and E 
are very palatable. E 
Su Sune [11th cent. ]:—lIt is a climbing plant with large 
leaves and small flowers. The latter are purple or white. — 
The pods are produced beneath the flowers, The seeds are 
black or white. The white seeds are of a warm nature, and os 
the black, which are smaller, are cold. The white are used in 
medicine. The black-seeded sort is also called iH EF ts‘zo tow 2 
(magpie bean), for it (the seed) has a white road (rib) like that ’ 
seen on the wing of a magpie [evidently the hélwm is meant]. = 
Lr Sa-cxEen :—The name pien tou is derived from i c 
pien (flat) and refers to the flat pods. It is a twining” 5 
plant with large, roundish, pointed leaves. The flowers — 
resemble a small butterfly with its wings and tail. There ae 
numerous varieties, according to the shape of the legume, 
which is long or round, sometimes shaped like a dragon’s or 
tiger’s claw, or like a pig’s ear or a sickle. The young pods 
are eaten as a vegetable. The ripe seeds are eaten boiled. . 
The seeds are, according to the varieties, black, white, red and 
variegated. There is one sort with hard legumes, non-edible, 
with coarse, round seeds of a white colour. These seeds si 
used in medicine, Other popular names are: HB w. 
eh ie (silkworm-moth’s eyebrows soem a 
TID of the seed or hilum) and } F yen li tou (tence 
climber bean). i es * 
