groundnut

Family

Fabaceae

Scientific Name

Apios americana

Other Common Names:

Indian potato

pea vines

sea vines

hopniss

patates en chapelet

wild bean

groundnut

ground bean

pomme de terre

wild potato

wild sweet potato

Synonyms (former Scientific Names):

Glycine apios

Habit

forb/herb/vine

Leaves

The leaves are alternate, pinnately, egg-shaped, 2-10 cm (3/4-4 in) long, 1.8-7 cm (0.7-2.7 in) wide, and sometimes hairy.

Identifying Characteristics

Legume Family (Fabaceae). Groundnut (Apios americana) is a perennial herb from slender rhizomes with tuberous thickenings 1.3-4 cm (0.5-1.6 in) thick, and stems twining or climbing over other plants.Groundnut blooms from July to October. The flowers have 5 parts, the upper one round, white and reddish brown, the 2 side wings curved down and brown-purple, the lower 2 petals sickle-shaped and brownish red.

Flower Seed Head

The flowers are in rounded clusters among leaves.The fruits are dry, straight or slightly curved, narrow, and 5-10 mm (3/16-3/8 in) long. The fleshy legume fruits are 6-12 mm (0.2-.5 in) in diameter and indehiscent (the fruit coils back after opening), usually with 1 seed.

Seed Fruit

The seeds are oblong or square, dark brown, with wrinkled surfaces.

Where Found

Groundnut is distributed through the great prairie from Quebec to Minnesota, North Dakota, south to north central Colorado, Florida, and Texas.

Life Cycle

perennial

Plant Type

Vine