Canavalia lineata

(Thunb.) DC.

Beach bean

Fabaceae
Canavalia lineata
iNaturalist · cc0
no rights reserved, uploaded by 葉子
Canavalia lineata
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Pan Lau, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Canavalia lineata
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Richard Johnstone, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Richard Johnstone

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows on sandy beaches.

Asia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, SE Asia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A twining vine. It can be 5 m long. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves are oval and 6-14 cm long by 4-10 cm wide. They are softly hairy. The base is wedge shaped and it is rounded at the tip. The flowers are on the axils of leaves. They are purplish red. The fruit is an oblong pod 6-10 cm long by 3 cm wide. The seeds are brown. There are 2 to 3 oval seeds.

Notes

There are about 50 Canavalia species.

Names & Synonyms

Dau-co

Dolichos lineatus Thunb.Dolichos lineatus Murray
References (4)
  • ILDIS Legumes of the World http:www:ildis.org/Legume/Web
  • Kew Plants of the World On line
  • Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 138
  • World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

More from Fabaceae