EcoFlora - Canavalia ensiformis

Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.
Family: Fabaceae Wonder-Bean, more...wonderbean, jack bean [Canavalia ensiformis var. albida DC., moreDolichos ensiformis L.] Tracey Slotta	SW Field Guide Resources Bailey 1949 Duration: Annual Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Vine General: Annual or perennial, to 2 m long, erect to semi-erect or strongly twining to trailing herbaceous plant. Leaves: Ovate-oblong to elliptic 5-12 cm long, acute or acuminate and mucronate, about 3 cm wide, generally leathery. Flowers: Large, papilionaceous, purple, 3-6 cm long, in pendulous axillary racemes 20-35 cm long. Fruits: Pods 20-30 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, slightly curved, ridges moderately marked with sides usually plane, seeds 10-14, about 3 cm long, 2 cm wide, compressed but plump and white. Ecology: Uncertain as to its precise distribution in Arizona, but clearly a plant of disturbed areas where escaped or cultivated. Notes: The seeds of this plant would help to clarify, as would the large leathery leaves. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Canavalia is unclear, but cana means gray or hoary, while ensiformis means having a sword-shaped form. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010
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