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Pachyrhizus erosus
Also called Mexican Potato, Potato Bean, Jicama
Yam bean is a Mesoamerican climbing vine grown mainly for its large, edible, tuberous root, known as jicama. It needs a long frost-free season and support to climb, and the root is the part people eat.
Pachyrhizus erosus, commonly known as jícama ( or ; Spanish: jícama [ˈxikama] ; from Nahuatl languages: xīcamatl [ʃiːˈkamatɬ]) or Mexican turnip, is a native Mesoamerican vine, although the name jícama most commonly refers to the plant's edible tuberous root. It is in the pea family (Fabaceae). Pachyrhizus tuberosus and Pachyrhizus ahipa are the other two cultivated species in the genus. The naming of this group of edible plants can sometimes be confusing, with much overlap of similar, or the same, common names.
Flowers, either blue or white, and pods similar to peas, are produced on fully developed plants. Several species of Pachyrhizus are known as jícama, but the one found in many markets is P. erosus. The two cultivated forms of P. erosus are jícama de agua and jícama de leche, both named for the consistency of their juice.
In contrast to the root, the remainder of the plant is very poisonous; the seeds contain the toxin rotenone, which is used to poison insects and fish. Mature seeds, flowers, and beans have a high rotenone content. Commercial jícama cultivation considered using them as an insecticide source.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pachyrhizus erosus 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.
