FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Recognizable in wetlands by its compound leaves with 5 to 7 leaflets. Herbaceous vine with typical "bean family" characteristics (flower, pea-pod). Underground tuber is edible.
Synonym(s): Glycine apios
Description: Twining herbaceous vine, spreading by rhizomes.
Leaves: Compound leaves with 5 to 7 leaflets, 3 to 6 cm long with acuminate tips. Leaves 10 to 20 cm long.
Flowers/Fruit: Typical "bean" flower, purplish to brown. Flower roughly 2-lipped with 5 petals bearing a long, bean-like pod, up to 10 cm. Blooms June to August; fruits July to September.
Habit and Range: Freshwater marshes, edges of streams or ponds, bottomlands throughout North Carolina.
