Groundnut, Apios americana Medik., Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Wild Bean

(Wild Bean, Indian Potato). A vine with pink to deep purple pea shaped 5-part flowers clustered together on short dense conical racemes that appear among the leaves, growing from the leaf axils. The petals of the flower characteristically have the upper petal round and colored white and reddish brown. The two side wings are curved down and are a brownish purple, the two lower petals are sickle shaped and brownish red. Five or more slightly stalked leaflets to a leaf, always an odd number, no tendrils. The vine can be up to seven feet in length. The plant produces edible tubers which grow from slender rhizomes. They look like rounded small potatoes. Groundnuts are a good source of carbohydrates and contain between 13 and 17 percent protein by dry weight - about three times as much as potatoes. The above ground fruit is a bean type pod containing several seeds. Groundnut can reproduce by either these seeds or the underground tubers. The plant has a history of human use. It can also be used as an ornamental, but can become invasive. The genus Apios is Greek for pear, referring to the tuber shape. There are only two species of this genus in North American and only five in the world.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Groundnut	Apios americana Medik.	Pea (Fabaceae)	Woodland and Upland	Late Summer to Early Autumn
Other names and notes	(Wild Bean, Indian Potato). A vine with pink to deep purple pea shaped 5-part flowers clustered together on short dense conical racemes that appear among the leaves, growing from the leaf axils. The petals of the flower characteristically have the upper petal round and colored white and reddish brown. The two side wings are curved down and are a brownish purple, the two lower petals are sickle shaped and brownish red. Five or more slightly stalked leaflets to a leaf, always an odd number, no tendrils. The vine can be up to seven feet in length. The plant produces edible tubers which grow from slender rhizomes. They look like rounded small potatoes. Groundnuts are a good source of carbohydrates and contain between 13 and 17 percent protein by dry weight - about three times as much as potatoes. The above ground fruit is a bean type pod containing several seeds. Groundnut can reproduce by either these seeds or the underground tubers. The plant has a history of human use. It can also be used as an ornamental, but can become invasive. The genus Apios is Greek for pear, referring to the tuber shape. There are only two species of this genus in North American and only five in the world.