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Tylosema esculentum
Also called Marama Bean
Gemsbok bean (marama bean) is a long-lived perennial legume from arid southern Africa that dies back to a tuber each winter and regrows in spring. Key to growing it is well-drained sandy soil, since waterlogging causes root rot, and scarifying the hard seed coat before sowing.
Tylosema esculentum, with common names gemsbok bean and marama bean or morama bean, is a long-lived perennial legume native to arid areas of southern Africa. Stems grow at least 3 metres (9.8 ft), in a prostrate or trailing form, with forked tendrils that facilitate climbing. A raceme up to 25 millimetres (1 in) long, containing many yellow-orange flowers, ultimately produces an ovate to circular pod, with large brownish-black seeds.
The seed's hard outer shell means that scarification is necessary in order to ensure satisfactory germination rates. As for most legumes, a pH neutral soil is preferred. The plant typically grows in very sandy loam, where waterlogging would not be a problem. Despite much global interest in this plant, propagation rates are still fairly low.
The plant can be grown outside, unsheltered, as far north as Zone 8 in the United States and perhaps further north; above-ground growth is killed back by winter freezing, but the plant reemerges each spring in late May. The greatest impediment to producing a crop of seeds is the long maturation time for the seed pods – which is right up to the first hard freeze of the year. Waterlogging is indeed an issue – leading to root rot – and a well-drained sandy loam is preferred, but not essential.
The plant is a significant food-source for the people of the Kalahari Desert because of the high protein and oil content of its large seeds (20–30 g (0.71–1.06 oz) each). The seeds are usually roasted, imbuing them with a more palatable flavour, comparable to cashew or chestnut. The seeds can also be ground or boiled. The beans keep well, due to their hard outer shell. The tuber is also edible, but must be harvested from young plants (one or two years old) to avoid the tuber being astringent and fibrous.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tylosema esculentum 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.
