Amphicarpaea bracteata

Climber

HomeClimberAmphicarpaea bracteata

Cool damp woodlands.

Family: Fabaceae
Height: 1.5 m / 5 ft
Shade, Semi-shade
Light, Medium and Heavy Soil
Moist

Plant Rating

Edible Uses: 5 of 5
Medicinal Uses: 1 of 5
Other Uses: 3 of 5

Native Habitat

Hog Peanut, American hogpeanut Amphicarpaea bracteata native habitat is Cool damp woodlands.

Edible Uses

Seed - raw or cooked. Two types of seed are produced - flowers produced near the ground produce a pod that buries itself just below soil level. These pods contain a single seed are up to 15mm in diameter which can be used as a peanut substitute. They can be harvested throughout the winter and can be eaten raw or cooked. They are sweet and delicious raw with a taste that is more like shelled garden beans than peanuts. Yields are rather low, and it can be a fiddle finding the seeds, but they do make a very pleasant and nutritious snack. Other flowers higher up the plant produce seed pods that do not bury themselves. The seeds in these pods are much smaller and are usually cooked before being eaten. They can be used in all the same ways as lentils and are a good source of protein. The overall crop of these seeds is rather low and they are also fiddly to harvest. Root - cooked. The root is peeled, boiled and then eaten. Fleshy and nutritious according to one report, whilst another says that the root is too small to be of much importance in the diet. Our plants have only produced small and stringy roots.