Groundnut

Groundnut, Apios americana, goes by many names, including Indian Potato, Wild Bean, Bog Potato, Potato Bean and Hopniss. It is a perennial vine found in moist woodlands, bottomlands and thickets. Up until this year I had considered it a pest right up there with many invasive wild plants.






So what has changed my mind about this plant?? It is an edible!!! The pods can be picked in midsummer to autumn, to be roasted. The only problem is that they are rarely abundant. In all my years here I have yet to see any pods. But I have been using the tubers. You dig them up, starting at the base of the stem, working along the root to obtain the whole string of tubers. They are good all year boiled, cooked in soups and stew or thinly sliced raw and fried liked potatoes. Their flavor is like a turnip, and they were a favorite of Native Americans.

If you look closely in this photo you can see the mass of groundnut leaves to the left of this Joe Pye Weed. As I considered it a plant of no import I have no pictures of the leaves or vine itself. Usually I notice it only because it grows up my plants in the woods and seems to strangle them, but never enough to permanently harm any of them. I did move my Blueberry bush out of its reach so as to not have to deal with its viney nature on that particular bush in the future!




But I do find the flower to be very interesting, and have this photo from this past season. The flower becomes a nice brown when in full bloom.




This is a photo I got off Google that shows the flower with the pod attached.




This one shows the whole plant with the makeup of its root system leading into the tubers which are like balls strung on the root.



I found them to be quite deep (up to 6-8 inches) in the soil here and not that easy to get all of them on a string, as the root part breaks apart quite easily. This is my photo of a group I had dug up in one session. This is after a thorough washing, but before any cooking. As you can see they have varying textures on the outside. As I have never dug them before, the older ones have a tougher skin, as opposed to the young ones which can be eaten as is. I cooked the small ones whole and sliced the larger ones and cooked them in a soup. They have a grainy texture, and a very pleasant taste. I will definitely be looking for more of these in future digging forages. I do have a patch that I know about in my woods, but will be looking for more. It took me a good hour to find the ones above, so it is not an easy harvest at this location.




In researching on the Internet I found that if you can locate some patches in the wild, you can usually count on them for annual harvesting. I will be seeking out patches next season when the vines are growing and are easily identifiable by their distinct leaves.

One of the things I look for in a good edible wild plant is whether or not my grandkids and Mia will taste them. Groundnut passed the taste test with all of them, so it will be something that will stay in our diet on a regular basis as I am able to find them.