Canavalia gladiata seed
LATIN NAME: CANAVALIA GLADIATA
COMMON NAME: Sword Bean, Scimitar Bean, Wonder Bean
The sword bean is a vigorous and generous plant of the warm kitchen gardens, and its long, twining vines and remarkable, long, flat, sword-shaped pods make it one of the most striking of the beans of the warm world. It grows as a domesticated legume with vigorous, twining vines bearing large, trifoliate leaves and, through the warm season, racemes of pinkish-purple, pea-like flowers, followed by the long, flat, curved, sword-like pods of large, shiny, reddish-brown beans. It has been grown as a vegetable across the interior, central and south-central regions of India and throughout the warm world, where the young pods and seeds are cooked as food, and it is also valued as a cover and green-manure crop for the nitrogen it feeds into the soil.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The sword bean has a genuine and distinguished place in food and agricultural research. Food scientists and nutritionists have examined the young pods and seeds, their composition and their value as a vegetable of the warm kitchen gardens, and the bean has been studied as a generous and useful legume of the warm world. In agriculture it is studied for its cultivation, its growth and its value as a crop, as well as for its vigorous twining vines and its continuing improvement through breeding, while as a nitrogen-fixing legume it is valued in research on cover crops and green manures. Botanists study its classification and its relationships within the legume family, and its seeds, which require proper preparation before use, have been examined for their chemistry. For a bean of such vigour, the sword bean has a rich and distinguished record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
To grow the Sword Bean from seed, ecologically, the sword bean is a generous plant of the warm kitchen garden. Its pinkish-purple, pea-like flowers feed bees and other pollinators, its long, twining vines give a leafy cover, and, as a legume, it enriches the soil with nitrogen. Economically it is a valued vegetable of the warm kitchen gardens, cooked as a food in India and across the warm world, and it is also grown as a cover and green-manure crop; the young pods and properly prepared seeds are the edible parts. For a grower it is an easy and generous plant, and for a gardener it brings vigorous vines and remarkable, long, sword-shaped pods. To start the sword bean along, nick the firm coat with a small file or soak the seeds in warm water, then sow them in moist, rich soil in a sunny, well-drained position and keep them lightly watered.
nick the firm coat with a small file or soak the seeds in warm water, then sow them in moist, rich soil in a sunny, well-drained position, and keep the young sword beans lightly watered.
LATIN NAME: Canavalia gladiata
COMMON NAME: Sword Bean, Scimitar Bean, Wonder Bean
The sword bean is a vigorous and generous plant of the warm kitchen gardens, and its long, twining vines and its remarkable, long, flat, sword-shaped pods have made it one of the most striking and most useful of the beans of the warm world. It grows as a domesticated plant species in the legume family, with the long, twining, vigorous vines bearing the large, trifoliate leaves and, through the warm season, the pinkish-purple, pea-like flowers, borne in the racemes, followed by the remarkable, long, flat, curved, sword-like pods of the large, shiny, reddish-brown beans. It is a domesticated plant species in the legume family, while it is used as a vegetable in the interior, the central and the south-central regions, and it is known as the sword bean or the scimitar bean, and it is one of the most striking and most useful of the beans of the warm world.
The sword bean belongs to the legume family, Fabaceae, and it is a domesticated plant species. It is used as a vegetable in the interior, the central and the south-central regions, while it is known as the sword bean or the scimitar bean, and it is prized for its vigorous vines and its remarkable, long, flat, sword-shaped pods.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The sword bean has a genuine and distinguished place in both food and agricultural research. It has been studied in the food science and the nutrition, since the young pods and the seeds are used as a vegetable, and researchers have examined the pods, the seeds, their composition and their value, while the sword bean has been a valued vegetable of the warm kitchen gardens, and its value as a generous bean has drawn attention in the international food and agricultural press as a useful bean of the warm world. The plant has also been studied in the agriculture, since it is a domesticated plant species, and researchers have examined its cultivation, its growth and its value as a crop, while the vigorous vines of the bean, twining over the supports, have been examined, and the breeding and the improvement of the bean has been of continuing interest. The species has also been studied in the botany and the chemistry, since it is a member of the legume family, and its classification and its relationships have been examined, while the legumes and their value in the nitrogen-fixing have been examined, and the seeds of the plant, which require the proper preparation before the use, have been examined, and the plant is best appreciated as a subject of study and of the traditional use. For a bean of such vigour, the sword bean has a rich and distinguished record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the sword bean is a generous plant of the warm kitchen garden. Its pinkish-purple, pea-like flowers feed the bees and the pollinators, and its long, twining vines give a leafy cover, while, as a legume, it enriches the soil with the nitrogen, and it is a valued presence in the kitchen gardens of the warm world.
Its economic value is real. The sword bean is a valued vegetable of the warm kitchen gardens, and its value has drawn attention in the international food and agricultural press as a useful bean of the warm world, while it is also valued as a cover and a green-manure crop. For a grower, the sword bean is an easy and generous plant, and for a gardener it brings vigorous vines and remarkable, long, sword-shaped pods. The seeds have a firm coat and respond to a simple, well-known step — soak them in warm water overnight, or nick the coat with a small file, then sow them in moist, rich, free-draining soil in a warm, sunny spot, and theyll be sprouting within a week or two, growing on into a vigorous, pod-bearing vine.