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Nicker bean

Entada gigas

Also called Sea Bean, Mackay Bean, Sword Bean, Cacoon, Monkey Ladder, Sea Heart

Nicker bean
Photo: martinsv, CC BY-SA 4.0

Nicker bean (Entada gigas) is a large woody climber from wet tropical forests, grown mainly for its enormous seed pods, which are the largest of any legume. It is a landscape or conservatory curiosity rather than a common pot plant, and it needs warm, humid conditions and space to climb.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Climber
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season and reduce watering in cooler months.
Soil
Rich, well-draining loam or peat-based mix with added organic matter.
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 15 °C
How easy
Hard
Native range
S. Mexico to NW. Venezuela and Ecuador, Caribbean, Trop. Africa
Climate
wet tropical

About

Entada gigas, commonly known as the monkey-ladder, sea bean, cœur de la mer or sea heart, is a species of flowering liana in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae. It is native to Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Africa. It is notable for having the largest seedpods in the Fabaceae.

Other Entada plants

African Dream Herb

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Entada gigas by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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