Trailing Wild Bean

(Strophostyles helvula)

Trailing Wild Bean (Strophostyles helvula [L.] Ell.)

Identification: Plant a vine trailing along the ground or twining about other herbs and shrubs. Flowers large, showy, pink to lavender. Lower petals modified into an elongate, purple, hornlike structure. Flowers sessile with the flower stem. Seedpods straight, 2 to 3 inches long. Flower stalks usually shorter than the length of the leaves. Leaves with 3 leaflets, each leaflet broad and sometimes with irregular marginal lobes.

Distribution: Throughout eastern North America and the plains states.

Habitat: Trailing Wild Bean is found in thickets and along the shores of rivers and lakes.

Flowering period: June to October.

Similar Species: Trailing Wild Bean is very similar to Pink Wild Bean. The flowers of Pink Wild Bean have short pedicels and are not sessile to the flower stem. The leaves are generally narrower and the flower stems are usually shorter than the length of a leaf.