Flora of North America species comparison

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Canavalia gladiata

sword bean, sword jackbean
Habit Herbs or vines, annual or perennial, herbaceous, 1–2(–9) m. Stems erect or twining, sparsely pubescent to glabrate.
Leaves

petiole 5.8–8 cm;

petiolules 5–7.5 mm, sparsely pubescent, hairs 0.3–0.6 mm;

leaflet blades ovate-elliptic or ovate, 70–200 × 50–90 mm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrate.
Panicles

to 45 cm;

bracteoles 0.5–1 × 0.7–1.4 mm, apex obtuse.
Pedicels

2–2.2 mm, glabrous or strigillose.
Flowers

calyx 11–16 mm;

central lobe of abaxial lip equaling obtuse lateral lobes;

corolla bicolored (purple and white) or white, 25–35 mm.
Legumes

slightly compressed, narrowly oblong, 20–40 × 2.5–5 cm.
Seeds

6–9, usually red to red-brown, rarely white, moderately compressed, oblong, to 2–3.5 × 1.5–2 cm;

hilum 1/2+ length of seed.
2n

= 22.

Canavalia gladiata
Phenology Flowering Aug–Sep.
Habitat Waste places.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
LA; MO; MS; SC; TX; se Asia [Introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Canavalia
Sibling taxa
C. brasiliensis, C. ensiformis, C. rosea
Synonyms Dolichos gladiatus
Name authority (Jacquin) de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle: Prodr. 2: 404. (1825)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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