Apios americana, American Groundnut, Seeds

Common Groundnut is a native perennial vine in the legume family and is found in tidal and non-tidal marshes, wet thickets, stream banks and bottomland forests. It has edible fruits and large edible tubers that provide numerous health benefits. Although the fruit and seeds are edible, it is the tuber that is most desirable but the only place it is cultivated as a food crop is in Japan. The vine can grow 8-16 feet long.

Plant tubers two to three inches deep in the early spring and mulch to stop competition from weeds and grass. Provide the young shoots with something to climb on. After one year of growth, several one-inch-thick tubers can be harvested from each plant. It will grow in sun to partial shade and needs moist conditions, preferring sandy or gravelly loams with some humus added.

The vines and flowers are ornamental enough to grow for their looks but will spread to form colonies and can become weedy.

These are from non-improved (wild) type plants in Northeast Florida.