LEGUMINOSAE 



PULSE FAMILY 



WILD BEAN. GROUNDNUT 



Apios tuberosa Moench 



Many a country boy has rooted out and eaten the pear- 

 shaped tubers of the Wild Bean. These tubers are said 

 to have been used commonly in colonial days as a sub- 

 stitute for bread. 

 Because of them 

 the plant is often 

 called Groundnut. 



The Wild Bean 

 grows in moist places 

 from New Brunswick 

 to Florida and west 

 to Ontario, Minne- 

 sota, Kansas and 

 Texas, and blooms 

 from July to Septem- 

 ber, It is a beautiful 

 vine whose slender 

 twining stems climb 

 over bushes to a 

 height of several feet. 

 The leaflets of the 

 alternate compound leaves are usually 5 or 7, and there are 

 stipules which soon drop ofi^. 



The flowers are brownish purple. The calyx is somewhat 

 2-lipped, the 2 lateral teeth being very small, the 2 upper united 

 into I which is very short, and the lower i longest and pointed. 

 The butterfly-shaped corolla has 5 petals and in this case the 

 standard is turned back somewhat and the long keel is incurved 

 and twisted. There are 10 stamens, 9 united and i free. The 

 simple pistil develops into a many-seeded pod. 



Another Wild Bean, sometimes called Kidney Bean, Phaseolus 

 polystachytis (L.) BSP., is fairly common on dry rocky hillsides 

 in open woods. From the thick fleshy root springs the smooth 

 green stem which is conspicuous for its unusual length. Some- 

 times it climbs over bushes 12 feet away from its rooting place. 

 The purple flowers are small but handsome, in racemes through 

 summer and fall. The calyx is 5-toothed or cleft with the 2 upper 

 teeth often shallower, and the drooping pods are 4 or 5-seeded. 



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