'Crispy Snack' Mouse Bean

Amphicarpaea bracteata Origin: Michigan Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~10 BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial The mouse bean (Amphicarpa bracteata) is a truly amazing native perennial legume — a rare plant that produces two very different types of seeds in two very different ways — with a long history of cultural significance among many Indigenous peoples on this continent. The unassuming twining vines are commonly found along waterways and trail edges in damp woods across eastern North America, though much of their prime habitat has been destroyed by large dam projects, especially in the midwest. With their distinctive "leaves of three", many inexperienced people confuse them with poison ivy, but they are not poisonous. Indeed, they have nourished generations of Indigenous peoples across their range.As mentioned above, mouse beans produce two different kinds of seed. There are the tiny bean-like seeds born a few at a time in small aerial p