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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

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Friday - July 01, 2005

From: Midland, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Vines
Title: Smarty Plants on hyacinth bean vine
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

I'm looking for what I believe is a wild vine. All i know is that it has purplish colored beans and the flowers are also purple. Also the vine itself is purplish. i believe that the vine is either from the Hill Country or the Piney Woods area. i would like to get hold of some of the beans to plant at my home in Midland. Thank you.

ANSWER:

I think you are looking for the Purple hyacinth bean vine (Dolichos lablab). It is not native to North America. It is a native of Asia, but it is available commercially as seeds or plants. Here is another photo of the hyacinth bean vine.
 

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