Wildflower Tuesday – Apios americana

Apios americana – Indian potato, wild bean or American groundnut is a twining vine with deep purple, fragrant flowers in late summer. Its small but nutritious tubers were a staple of the Native Americans diet but because of their size and 2-year growth cycle, they have not been adopted with much enthusiasm by the European settlers. Yet, Indian potatoes have a nutty flavour, and they contain roughly 3 times more proteins and a higher content of calcium and iron than potatoes. They also contain isoflavones which are known to have anti-carcinogenic action.

Apios americana – just starting to flower last week. I hope for a long fall…

An interesting fact related to seeds is that although usually diploid, Apios americana also has triploids forms. These latter forms will flower but not produce seeds.

You can read a lot more about this interesting North American plant, follow the links please:

Apios americana – wiki
Domestication of Apios americana
Stalking the wild groundnut