Can anyone identify what type of seed or seed pod this is? It was found in the woods around Northwest Alabama and is about 1 inch long.
Terrye
ID, please
Here's another picture.
Terrye
I don't know what it is, but it sure is pretty.
It's about 35 years old and polished from being handled over the years.
Terrye
At first glance, I thought it was some type of chestnut. But upon further inspection, I don't have a clue ;o)) You might try posting on plant and tree ID.
notta a clue here too
Thanks. I posted on Plant and tree id. Maybe I can find out there.
Terrye
It is a Sea Bean. (Hamburger bean). Not sure how it got in NW Alabama
^ I was going to say the same thing. It's a Mucuna species. I forget the species name, but it's not one of the nicer ones. Someone sent me the same seeds in a rare seed swap, but, after finding out what it was, I wasn't interested in growing it.
How it could have gotten to the woods of North Alabama is quite a mystery. If the seed and its story are 35 years old, I'd wonder if it didn't lose some details over the years, or if the story became attached to a different seed from the original one.
i've gathered some sea bean seeds before, I 'm not sure If I still have them but mine didn't look like that.
but I did find this on line that looks like yours it is a sea bean like kenny said.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://maya-ethnobotanicals.com/image_resize.php%3Fresize%3Dno%26image%3D319.jpg&imgrefurl=http://maya-ethnobotanicals.com/buy-velvet-bean&usg=__jJy3OQusBLCcEwyPyfNjEWSTS54=&h=134&w=200&sz=9&hl=en&start=12&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=HRlT0Pi2ILCXzM:&tbnh=70&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsea%2Bbean%2Bseed%2Bnescafe%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
here's a pic of my velvet sea bean seed pod , also called the nescafe bean
Maybe there are diff kinds.
sorry it's so blurry
I checked my notes. I think you've got Mucuna urens, "Red Hamburger Bean." This page from seabean.com covers it pretty well, including the uninteresting flower, which is what convinced me not to bother trying to grow it: http://www.seabean.com/guide/Mucuna_urens/
There are other Mucunas that have spectacular flowers, like
Mucuna bennettii: http://www.hawaiiantropicalplants.com/PHOTOS/Mucuna_bennettii.jpg
Mucuna cyclocarpa: http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Vines/img_1929.jpg
and
Mucuna nigricans: http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2009/01/27/plantattraction/09ad6b.jpg
But, one seed of these can sell for $15..........
Will you look at that, it does look like a hamburger. cool. I have to go check out your links too. the flower on mine wasn't very pretty.
Their flowers are awesome looking. So, is mine in a different family? or diff bean altogether? I think i bought mine off ebay long time back. as the nescafe velvet sea bean.
hahaha I did not even notice that it looked like a hamburger...kinda makes me want to eat it ;o) Quite a stunning plant and flower. KA, did you plant yours?
yes, that's where the seeds came from, but my flowers didn't look like those flowers in those links above there, and the seed pod is quite different also. my flower looked alot like the regular pea flower.
Thanks for the id. !!
Terrye
Those seeds are all over Latin America, they bring good luck, I have one :0)
Enjoy it, if you found it somewhere, it means you will get lots of luck...play lotto..I thought those were tropicals, gesss, climates are changing for sure.