Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Canavalia ensiformis - Jack Bean
Legumes
Edible parts - Seeds, Leaves, Young pods, Spice, Flowers, Vegetable
A perennial climber, although short kinds do occur. Often it is a more bushy plant than the sword bean. Plants up to 1.5 m long. Stems can be hairy. Leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are oval and 5.7-20 cm long by 3.2-11.5 cm wide. The leaf tends to be wedge shaped at the base. The leaf stalks are 2.5-11 cm long. Flowers are red/purple. They occur on flower clusters 5-12 cm long and with flower cluster stalks which are 10-34 cm long. The individual flower stalks are 2-5 mm long. Pods are long and sword shaped. Pods can be 15-35 cm long. Seeds are white with a light brown hilum half as long as the seed. Seeds are 2 cm long, by 1 cm across.