Amphicarpaea bracteata (L.) Fernald var. bracteata

American hog-peanut, ground bean, American hogpeanut

About plant names...

American hog-peanut is native to eastern North America. It inhabits woodlands, thickets, low wooded areas along streams, and moist slopes.

Plants: Plants look like low-lying mats of foliage, but at close quarters they are actually thin-stemmed vines 24-96" (60-243 cm) long. Small tendrils hang onto nearby plants. Stems are less than ¹/₃₂" (1 mm) thick, light green to red­dish green, and covered with thin flattened (appressed) hairs.

Leaves: Leaves are alternate, in groups of three delicate leaflets, along twining stems. The central leaflet, called the terminal leaflet, is up to 2½" (6.3 cm) long about about the same width. Leaflets are ovate to ovate-rhombic, with sharp tips. The other two leaflets tend to be a bit smaller. Leaflets are mostly hairless on top, and usually hairier and lighter in color below.

Flowers: Pink to white to pale lavender, ½-¾" (1.3-1.9 cm) long. Open flowers are cross-pollinated, while closed flowers are self-pollinating. Flowers are tubular in shape, with an upright-facing banner, 2 side wings, and a keel. The edges of the banners are often folded backward. Closed flowers may occur above or below ground. Open flowers occur in compact clusters of 2-15 along the vine. They appear from August to September.

Fruits: Open flowers form flat pods, ½-1½" (1.5-4 cm) long, pointed at both ends, containing 1-4 seeds. When mature, the dried pods burst to disperse the seeds. Closed flowers produce a pod containing a single seed.

Edibility: Below-ground pear-shaped seeds are “sweet and delicious,” eaten raw or cooked, tasting like shelled garden beans. Seeds from above-ground seed pods are said by some sources to be inedible, and by others to be edible after cooking.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Wikipedia

Gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org

Plants for a Future

Minnesota Wildflowers

References:

Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 101

7/23/2017 · Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 6 × 8" (16 × 19 cm)

7/23/2017 · Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

8/29/2023 · Stetser Preserve, Jefferson, Maine
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

8/22/2020 · Crossbill Trail, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine
≈ 2½ × 3" (6.6 × 8.2 cm)

7/18/2020 · Woodward Point Preserve, Brunswick, Maine
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

9/16/2016 · Sieur de Monts Botanical Gardens, Bar Harbor, Maine

Amphicarpaea bracteata var. bracteata description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 5 Sep 2023.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

7/1/2023 · Pocahontas State Park, Chesterfield, Virginia

8/26/2018 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenburg, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4 × 6" (11 × 15 cm)

8/26/2018 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenburg, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4 × 6" (11 × 16 cm)

8/29/2023 · Stetser Preserve, Jefferson
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

7/23/2017 · Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

8/26/2018 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenburg, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

(The wide leaves are Desmodium nudiflorum) · 7/1/2023 · Pocahontas State Park, Chesterfield, Virginia

8/22/2020 · Crossbill Trail, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine
≈ 4 × 5" (11 × 13 cm)

Range:

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