[WebSiteEvo]

 Has anyone grown Apios americana, the groundnut? How successfully was it in the UK?

I am planning on giving it a go next year. Being Perennial it has the advantage of not having to be resown each year.

Apios americana, sometimes called the potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato or groundnut (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name groundnut) is a perennial vine native to eastern North America, and bears edible beans and large edible tubers. It grows to 3–4 m long, with pinnate leaves 8–15 cm long with 5–7 leaflets. The flowers are red-brown to purple, produced in dense racemes. The fruit is a legume (pod) 6–12 cm long.

The tubers are crunchy and nutritious, with a high content of starch and especially protein. The plant was one of the most important food plants of pre-European North America, and is now being developed for domestication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apios_americana

This is a very easy plant to grow, preferring a light rich soil and a sunny position. When grown in a warm dry situation in a well-drained sandy soil, the plants will be long lived with the tuberous roots increasing in size and number each year. The plant prefers light dappled shade in its native environment, though it seems to need a sunnier position in Britain. Perhaps siting it on the sunny edge of a woodland, or along the sunny side of a garden shrubbery would be most suitable for it. The groundnut is also said to be very tolerant of acid soils though it dislikes windy situations.

http://server9.web-mania.com/users/pfafardea/leaflets/groundnt.php

[WebSiteEvo]

After further research looks like its very rare to find suppliers and growers in the UK. I guess I am unlikely to get a response or find anyone on these forums who have tried growing it. It does seem like it has allot of potential as a future UK crop. 

[Bigfatsi]

I always thought a groundnut was a peanut? Best frying oil.

Simon

[japagow]

Where did  you get the seeds tubers from to start this project.  How do you cook this tuber and what does it taste like?

[WebSiteEvo]

Its not the same as a peanut, but both are often called groundnut.

Looking for a supplier now.

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k151/mathluque/?action=view&current=MOV00036.mp4

When European explorers first visited the New World they found the naives eating the seeds and tubers of Apios americana Medikus (apios, groundnut). Ethnohistoric records for eastern North American Indians probably cite this species for its use as food more often than any other kind of tuber. Despite its wide use, most Indians gathered apios from the wild, and although some tribes transplanted them near their campsites, apios probably was never cultivated (Beardsley 1939).

Apios may have reached Europe as early as 1597 (Seabrook 1973). It was evaluated in 1845 during the potato famine in Ireland (National Academy of Sciences 1979) and was listed as a garden crop in 1885 (Vilmorin-Andrieux 1885). These early lines usually took two years to give acceptable yields (apios is a perennial) and the impetus to further develop apios probably waned with the discovery of disease-resistant lines of potato (Solanum tuberosum). Considering the probability that under the conditions in which it was grown in Northern Europe, apios did not produce viable seed (Vilmorin-Andrieux 1885, Seabrook 1973), it seems likely that early attempts to improve apios only involved evaluations of tubers selected from the wild for performance under different cultural conditions. In 1985 experiments were initiated by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station to evaluate the food-crop potential of apios (Blackmon and Reynolds 1986).

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-436.html

Several accessions have been identified with traits that make them potentially useful as breeding lines. Line LA85-034 has been a very consistent producer under different growing conditions and is being considered for release for use in home gardens. The total number of plants screened is less than 20,000. This represents only a minuscule sample of the overall germplasm. Future research will continue to concentrate on the selection and interbreeding of superior lines. Efforts will also be placed on developing techniques for controlled crosses and the generation of polyploids with colchicine. In the area of product development, in addition to efforts with recipe development, research is planned to evaluate uses of flour made from apios seeds and tubers.

Also see: PqQ7LcB9cdU
http://www.actaplantarum.org/floraitaliae/viewtopic.php?t=2881&f=20%3E
http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Apios+americana

[prakash_mib]

just be careful
this says it is a weed and quite invasive!!
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Apios%20americana

[Bigfatsi]

You learn something new everyday! lol 

Good luck. Hope you find it! 

Simon

[WebSiteEvo]

Apios priceana is another Apois with potential :

It has a delicious flavour somewhat like sweet potatoes when roasted

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Back to Apios americana.... I have found a few suppliers that do supply the tubers when available. Inquiring into when is the best time to purchase the tubers and current availability.