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Winged bean

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

Also called Goa Bean, Asparagus Pea, Four Angle Bean, Princess Pea, Four Angled Bean

Winged bean
Photo: Francisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A.), Public domain

Winged bean is a tropical climbing legume grown for its edible pods, leaves, flowers, tubers and seeds. It needs warm, humid conditions and a sturdy support to climb on.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during growth, reducing water as pods mature.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile loam; tolerates poor soil.
Temperature
22–34 °C; protect below 10 °C.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
as a cultigen from E. Trop. Africa
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

The winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), also known as cigarillas, Goa bean, four-angled bean, four-cornered bean, manila bean, princess bean, star bean, kamrangi bean, pea, or dragon bean, is a tropical herbaceous legume plant.

Winged bean is widely recognised by consumers and farmers in South Asia and South East Asia for its variety of uses and disease resistance. Winged bean is nutrient-rich and all parts of the plant are edible. The leaves can be eaten like spinach, flowers can be used in salads, tubers can be eaten raw or cooked, and seeds can be used in similar ways as the soybean. The winged bean is an underutilised species but has the potential to become a major multi-use food crop in the tropics of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Where it grows

Most likely originating from New Guinea, the species grows abundantly in the hot, humid equatorial countries of South and Southeast Asia, as well as tropical Africa. It is widely known in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea, but only cultivated on a small scale.

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Winged bean 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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