Strophostyles helvula
Common names: amberique-bean, annual sand bean, trailing fuzzybean, trailing wild bean
Description: annual or perennial vine
Native regions and distribution: eastern U.S. and Canada
Urban habitat: disturbed sites, near areas with high salinity, roadsides
Ecological function: food for birds and insects, erosion control
History: The Houma, Choctaw, Iroquois, and other Native American tribes used trailing fuzzybean for food as well as various medicinal uses. The Choctaw would boil and mash the roots for food. The Houma combined trailing fuzzybean with Cassia Tora (Indian Coffee) to make a tea for treating typhoid. The Iroquois treated poison ivy and warts by rubbing the whole leaves on the affected areas. Discovery of large quantities of S. helvula seeds in archaeological sites also suggests a use similar to common bean at one time; though the seeds are smaller than cultivated bean, it is nutritionally similar and possesses the largest seeds and pods for the genus. The pods have been used in the present day as a sauteed vegetable in South Central Mindanao, Philippines. Strophostyles helvula is a wild relative of the cultivated common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and could serve as an important model for understanding how herbaceous legumes adapt to different stressful environments. Specifically, S. helvola has coastal populations which show high salinity tolerance due to up-regulated genes.