American Hogpeanut (Bracteata)

The American Hogpeanut (Bracteata) is generally described as a perennial vine or forb/herb. This is native to the U.S. (United States) .

Uses of : Landscaping, Medicinal, Culinary, etc.

Ethnobotanic: The hogpeanut was used by many tribes of the Plains as a food source. The Pawnee are reported to have gathered hogpeanut from rat’s nests. The Chippewa used the hogpeanut for a food source, eating the fruit and roots. They also used it as a digestive aid. The Cherokee would spit a tea made from the root of hogpeanut on snakebites and consume the root tea to aid in diarrhea.

General Characteristics

General: Bean Family (Fabaceae). American hogpeanut is a taprooted, native, annual. The stems can be smooth or covered with short hairs and coil around a support for climbing (2-20 dm tall). The leaves are alternate, compound and with 3 leaflets. Leaflets are broadly lanceolate to ovate. The leaf stalks (petioles) are 2-10 cm long. The hogpeanut produces two sorts of flowers. The first is an unbranched, elongated inflorescence with pedicellate flowers maturing from the bottom up. These flowers open before fertilization and are usually cross-pollinated (chasmogamous). The other flowers are self-fertilized without opening (cleistogamous) and are produced on creeping branches near the ground. The fruit is a sickle-shaped, thin-walled legume, 4-6 mm long.

Required Growing Conditions

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

Habitat: American hogpeanut is found in dry or moist woodlands, along roadsides, and in prairie ravines.

General Upkeep and Control

AMFRDesert false indigo has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria. These bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. The growing plant utilizes some of this nitrogen but other plants growing nearby can also use some (Huxley 1992).