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Upcoming Events | Meet the Instructors | Plant Archive | Mushroom Archive
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Groundnuts (Apios americana) are a native plant in the pea family that can be found in crowded wet areas. It is a climbing, thin-stemmed vine with a 2-year growth cycle.
Groundnut leaves have 3-9 toothless leaflets with pointed edges. They produce edible lavender to brown colored flowers. Tubers grow in a rhizome chain a few inches below the soil surface.
Tubers can be snipped from the rhizomes, washed, peeled, and boiled. The flavor has been compared to yams with a boiled turnip texture. Groundnut tubers can be used like potatoes after cooking. The boiled tubers can be dried and ground into a gluten free flour that is high in protein.
Leave some tubers in the ground so the plant will regenerate. Groundnuts can also be cultivated in well-drained soil.
Some people will experience stomach upset, nausea and vomiting after eating groundnuts. As with any new food, eat a small amount at first to see if you have any undesirable reactions.
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Written by Amy Demers, founder of the Connecticut Foraging Club. To learn more about foraging in Connecticut, check out our upcoming classes.
