Strophostyles helvola

Sizes available: HPP #1, This is a native annual. These plants have not bloomed yet.

Basics: zones 4-9, 8' (trailing/climbing), full sun, a usually pink, sometimes white, pea-like flower in late summer, forming fuzzy bean pods in the fall, medium wet to dry soils, nitrogen-fixer, very adaptable, salt tolerant, Annual

Common names: Annual Woolly Bean, Trailing Wild Bean, Trailing Fuzzybean, Amberique-bean, Annual Sand Bean

Family: Fabaceae

Origin/Distribution: This is an eastern North American native that occurs in 35 of the lower 48 states and is native to southern Maine as well as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Habitat: sandy soil, coastal plain, beach, well-drained woodland clearing, roadside, forest edge, field

More: This is an annual vine native to Maine. According to Go Botany the seeds of Annual Woolly Bean are found in many archaeological sites in North America, indicating a long relationship with humans, most likely as food, but it has also been used as medicine. Both the roots and seeds are edible. The flowers are attractive to native bees and it is a larval host to some butterflies in the Skipper family. Its foliage may be browsed. Game birds and small mammals enjoy the seeds. It is a nitrogen-fixer, is very salt tolerant, and will seed around if happy. Why aren't we growing this in our sunny native gardens?

Nursery: Seed grown at Honey Petal Plants - seed from Hayefield Seed

Image credits: Bean pods from Wikimedia Commons