tuberosa of Gray) Pea family
Flowers - Fragrant, chocolate brown and reddish purple, numerous,
about 1/2 in. long, clustered in racemes from the leaf-axils.
Calyx 2-lipped, corolla papilionaceous, the broad standard petal
turned backward, the keel sickle-shaped; stamens within it 9 and
1. Stem: From tuberous, edible rootstock; climbing, slender,
several feet long, the juice milky. Leaves: Compounded of 5 to 7
ovate leaflets. Fruit: A leathery, slightly curved pod, 2 to 4
in. long.
Preferred Habitat - Twining about undergrowth and thickets in
moist or wet ground.
Flowering Season - July-September.
Distribution - New Brunswick to Ontario, south to the Gulf States
and Kansas.
No one knows better than the omnivorous "barefoot boy" that
"where the ground-nut trails its vine"
there is hidden something really good to eat under the soft,
moist soil where legions of royal fern, usually standing guard
above it, must be crushed before he digs up the coveted tubers.
He would be the last to confuse it with the WILD KIDNEY BEAN or
BEAN VINE (Phaseolus polystachyus; P.
Pages:
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890