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Dolichos lab-lab commonly known as Hyacinth Bean. In the tropical and subtropcical climates of zones 9 to 11 it can grow to 30 ft. or more and can bloom profusely with white, pink to mauve-magenta flowers. Seed pods are a shiney bright burgundy color turning a dull darker color when seeds, inside the pods, are ripe. Ripe seeds are black with a white spot on the edge. The vines and leaf veins are a deep burgundy color. Hyacinth Bean Vine can quickly cover a fence or trellis and can bloom profusely, even as an annual, during the summer in colder climate zones. It can tolerate some shade but grows best in full sun. If winters are mild enough, even in zone 6, some plants may reseed themselves the following spring. Collecting the dried seeds in autumn and storing them indoors for the winter will guarantee luxurient summertime growth year after year. This plant probably originated in the Nile Valley of Egypt. All parts of the plant are edible.
The specimen shown above was photographed in Louisville, Kentucky, zone 6, in the summer of 2002.
© 2004 Michael King
