# American groundnut

*Apios americana*

This plant was a primary food source for many Indigenous peoples and early European settlers; its tubers contain three times the protein of a common potato.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Fabales › Fabaceae › Apios
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Damp thickets, riverbanks, marshes, and moist alluvial woodlands.
- **Diet:** Photosynthetic; utilizes nitrogen-fixing root nodules to thrive in poor soils.
- **Range:** Eastern United States, Southeastern Canada, Gulf Coast, Great Plains
- **Size:** Twining vines up to 6 meters long; tubers typically 2-8 centimeters in diameter.
- **Lifespan:** Perennial
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Wetland drainage, habitat fragmentation, and competition from aggressive invasive vines like porcelain berry.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless and edible. The plant is safe to touch. While the tubers are a traditional food source, they should be cooked before consumption to neutralize protease inhibitors. Always verify identification with a botanist before foraging.

## About

Apios americana , sometimes called the potato bean , hopniss , Indian potato , hodoimo , America-hodoimo , American groundnut ,or groundnut (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name groundnut) is a perennial vine that bears edible beans and large edible tubers. Its vine can grow to 1–6 m long, with pinnate leaves 8–15 cm long with 5–7 leaflets. The flowers are usually pink, purple, or red-brown, and are produced in dense racemes 7.5–13 cm in length. The fruit...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/b47f7934-9bec-4bde-9838-c3e95889010e
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/119817
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apios americana
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/296457395/medium.jpeg (Jensyn Scott, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.