Groundnut (Apios)

Apios americana

Fabaceae (Legume)

A native nitrogen-fixing vine with strings of protein-rich tubers — a traditional Indigenous survival food.

EdiblePerennialTough as a nativeFixes nitrogenSurvival cropStaple calories

Groundnut (Apios) (Apios americana) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek

Sun

Part shade

Water

Moderate to high

Soil

Rich, moist

pH

5.5–7.0

Hardiness

Hardy native vine

Height

Vining

Spacing

12 in

Days to harvest

2 yr to tuber

What it is

Groundnut (Apios) (Apios americana) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. A native nitrogen-fixing vine with strings of protein-rich tubers — a traditional Indigenous survival food.

How to grow it

It wants part shade, water it moderate to high, and give it rich, moist soil. Target a soil pH around 5.5–7.0. Space plants about 12 in apart. Expect roughly 2 yr to tuber. Hardy native vine.

How it's used

Groundnut (Apios) is used: tubers cooked; seeds.

🔎 How to identify it

Compound leaves, 5–7 leaflets
Twining vine
Fragrant brown-maroon flowers

Edibility

PartsTubers (cooked)

UsesTubers cooked; seeds

CautionAlways cook; a small number of people react to it.

🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.