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 1ââ¬â6 m long, with pinnate leaves 8ââ¬â15 cm long with 5ââ¬â7 leaflets. The flowers are usually pink, purple, or red-brown, and are produced in dense racemes 7.5ââ¬â13 cm in length. The fruit is a legume pod 5ââ¬â13 cm long. Botanically speaking, the tubers are rhizomatous stems, not roots. Its natural range is from Southern Canada including Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick down through Florida and West as far as the border of Colorado.
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