Potato Bean Apios americana
Other Common Name(s):
Previously known as:
- Apios americana var. turrigera
- Glycine apios
- Phonetic Spelling
- AY-pee-os a-mer-ih-KAY-na
- Description
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Common Groundnut is a native perennial vine in the legume family and is found in tidal and non-tidal marshes, wet thickets, stream banks and bottomland forests. It has edible fruits and large edible tubers that provide numerous health benefits. Although the fruit and seeds are edible, it is the tuber that is most desirable but the only place it is cultivated as a food crop is in Japan. The vine can grow 8-16 feet long.
Plant tubers two to three inches deep in the early spring and mulch to stop competition from weeds and grass. Provide the young shoots with something to climb on. After one year of growth, several one-inch-thick tubers can be harvested from each plant. It will grow in sun to partial shade and needs moist conditions, preferring sandy or gravelly loams with some humus added.
The vines and flowers are ornamental enough to grow for their looks but will spread to form colonies and can become weedy.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Apios
- Species:
- americana
- Family:
- Fabaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- Native Americans used the tubers extensively for food and taught settlers how to use them.
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Canada, southeastern and central U.S.A.
- Distribution:
- AL , AR , CO , CT , DC , DE , FL , GA , IA , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MO , MS , NC , ND , NE , NH , NJ , NY , OH , OK , PA , RI , SC , SD , TN , TX , VA , VT , WI , WV Canada: NB , NS , ON , PE , QC
- Wildlife Value:
- Larval host for Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus). Mammals will eat the fruits and roots.
- Play Value:
- Wildlife Food Source
- Wildlife Larval Host
- Climbing Method:
- Twining
- Edibility:
- Cooked, mature tubers are similar to a potato but have a nuttier flavor and finer texture. They also have 3 times the protein of potatoes as well as numerous other health benefits. The legume is also edible.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Native Plant
- Vine
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Climbing
- Growth Rate:
- Medium
- Maintenance:
- Medium
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil Drainage:
- Moist
- Occasionally Wet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Edible
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Fruit Type:
- Legume
- Fruit Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Fruit Width:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- Fleshy dry bean-shaped legume 2-4 inches long with several seeds July to Sept.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Red/Burgundy
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Raceme
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Summer
- Flower Shape:
- Irregular
- Flower Petals:
- 4-5 petals/rays
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Maroon or reddish-brown pea-like flowers with 5 petals in compact racemes arising from leaf axils. Blooms from June to Aug.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Type:
- Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Lanceolate
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Egg-shaped pinnately compound leaves with 5-7 leaflets up to 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Hairs sometimes present on the paler undersides.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Green
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Surface:
- Hairy (pubescent)
- Stem Description:
- Twining green stems
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Vertical Spaces
- Landscape Theme:
- Butterfly Garden
- Edible Garden
- Native Garden
- Pollinator Garden
- Design Feature:
- Screen/Privacy
- Attracts:
- Butterflies
- Pollinators
- Small Mammals
- Songbirds
- Problems:
- Weedy
