GROUND NUT 



GROUND NUT. WILD BEAN. APIOS 



Apios tuberdsa. 



Apios, Greek, from opsin, a pear; alluding to the shape of the 

 tubers. 



A climbing and twining pereiinial, found in low, moist ground from 

 New Brunswick-to Florida, and westward. Frequently' associated with 

 Clematis virginiana, the two flourishing under similar conditions. July, 

 August. 



Root. — Has imderground shoots which produce strings of edible 

 tubers one to two indies long. 



Stem. — Slender, four to eight feet long, climbing and twining over 

 bushes; juice milky. 



Leaves. — Pinnately compound; leaflets five to seven; rarely three, 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute at apex, rounded at base, margin entire. 



Flowers. — Papilionaceous, brownish-red, or chocolate-brown, paler 

 without than within, fragrant, borne in dense, short, axillary racemes 

 which are sometimes branched. 



Calyx. — Small, 'campanulate, somewhat two-lipped. 



Standard. — ^Very broad, slightly turned out and back at the sides; 

 wings obliquely obovate, adherent to the keel which is long, incurved, 

 scythe-,shaped. 



Stamens. — Diadelphous, nine and one. 



Ovary. — Nearly sessile; style slender, ovules many. 



Pod: — Linear, compressed, many-seeded. 



Apios is a wild vine of extensive habitat, but rarely found in 

 cultivated grounds. Its flowers are perhaps more interesting 

 than beautiful; in form they are papilionaceous; their peculiarity 

 lies in their color. The books describe them as brownish or 

 chocolate-red, but words convey but little idea of the dull, deep, 

 lurid hue of the inner part of the banner and wings, or the curious 

 red, dusted with gray, of the exterior. 



The crowded racemes are borne in the axils of the leaves and 

 are from two to four inches long. So fragrant are they that one 

 often finds the plant in a wildwood tangle by its odor alone. The 

 foliage is loose and comparatively open. Like Clematis virginiana, 

 Apios requires moist ground, loves to have its roots cool and 



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