THE VELVET BEAN 



387 



THE VELVET BEAN 



522. The velvet bean, Stizolohium deeringianum, is a 

 semitropical plant which thrives along the Gulf Coast and 

 in Florida. There it is an important forage plant and soil 

 renovator, as it makes a very heavy growth and produces 

 numerous nitrogen-gathering tubercles. The vines often 

 grow to a length of 30 

 feet or more. The 

 flowers are in clusters, 

 purple in color, and are 

 followed by short pods 

 which are covered with 

 black fuzz, or down. 

 Each pod contains 

 several mottled white 

 and brown seeds about 

 the size of a common 

 garden bean. The 

 greatest value of the 

 velvet bean is as a 

 producer of vegetable 



matter rich in nitrogen. The long, tangled vines make it 

 rather difficult to harvest for forage. It will produce good 

 sized vines as far north as Virginia and Kentucky, but 

 does not produce seed except in the Gulf states. In re- 

 cent years, however, two early varieties, the Georgia and 

 the Alabama, have been produced, which mature seed 

 almost anywhere in tho Gulf states. These are now ex- 

 tensively grown, the area in velvet beans in 1917 being esti- 

 mated as 4,619,000 acres. 



Figure 133. — Velvet bean leaves, flowers and 

 green and mature pods. 



LABORATORY AND FIELD EXERCISES 



The pupils should become familiar with as many of the plants 

 discussed in this chapter as possible. Most of them can be grown to .it 

 least a partial state of maturity almost anyw^here in the United States, 



