Native American Groundnut’s Fascinating History; Verticut Your Grass?

The Pilgrims of New England survived their first few winters by living on native American groundnut, prized by early American settlers. They were deemed so valuable to the colonists that if an Indian dug Groundnuts on English land, they would be “set in stocks, and for a second offense, whipped.”

Native American Groundnut, Egans Greenway
Native American Groundnut Flower Cluster, Egans Greenway (Photo W. Lawson)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Environmental Horticulture Agent III, Rebecca Jordi, addresses questions about landscaping and gardening in northeast Florida. She is the Extension Director in Nassau County, Florida and also a University of Florida faculty member.

QUESTION: I found these pea pods growing on a vine in my back yard. Can I eat them? MW

JORDI: I am checking with the University of Florida’s Herbarium for a positive identification as I have only seen this vine once before at Egans Creek.

The flower cluster is lovely; slightly larger than a golf ball in shades of magenta, pink, rusty brown and white. The vine has the leaf configuration similar to wisteria. Kathy Russell, City of Fernandina Parks and Recreation, steered me towards the Native American groundnut, Apios americana, and I am inclined to agree with her. This vine can grow in partial shade or full sun; prefers low and moist woods, thickets, stream and riverbanks, ponds, marshes, meadows, and wet ravines.

It is a scary thing to eat plant material from the wild but in this instance, if it is truly the groundnut, then the seeds and tubers are edible.

American groundnut was prized by early American settlers who ate them boiled, fried, or roasted. They called them groundnuts, potato beans or Indian potatoes. The Pilgrims of New England survived their first few winters by living on them. I don’t know about you, but that tidbit of information was news to me. Even bread was made from the root. Indians were said to eat the seeds like lentils.

Most of the information I have found on this plant has come from a publication by James Duke from Purdue University. According to his paper, during the potato famine of 1845, Apios was introduced to Europe. Its cultivation there as a food crop was abandoned when growing potatoes again became feasible. The tuber is more slender and somewhat smaller than the typical potato as it is about 2.5 inches long. However, the tubers often grow in clusters of two to four.

American Groundnut flowers & "pea pods" Egans Greenway
American Groundnut flowers & “pea pods” Egans Greenway. (Photo W. Lawson)

American groundnut is found growing in eastern Canada and the US. It grows from Florida to Texas, north to Nova Scotia and west to Minnesota and Colorado. Like so many other vines, this species can also be “weedy” and cause problems in cultivated areas. It has been known to be a serious weed in cranberry plots (Devlin, 1981).

Fernald (1958) recounted an anecdote indicating the economic value of the groundnuts to the pilgrims, “The great value to the colonists of this ready food is further indicated by a reputed town law, which in 1654 ordered that, if an Indian dug Groundnuts on English land, he was to be set in stocks, and for a second offence, to be whipped.”

QUESTION: Some of the University of Florida publications on lawn grasses talk about vertical mowing. What is vertical mowing? PS

JORDI: The typical lawn mowers used in the home landscape are called rotary as the blades move in a horizontal plane. Vertical mowers have blades which move in a vertical (up/down) plane. This type of mower can be used to remove thatch buildup in lawns. If the thatch layer exceeds 1 inch, it can be removed by vertical mowing, or “verticutting,” in early spring to midsummer. It is a messy process and it is difficult for most homeowners to perform properly. Verticutting uses vertical blades which slice through the thatch and slightly into the soil, resulting in large portions of the dead material being removed from the top of the lawn. Usually the blades are spaced about three inches apart which works best for St. Augustinegrass.

This type of mowing can cause severe damage to the grass and requires a period of recuperation therefore it is best done when the grass is actively growing. Verticutting should be done in one direction only – not in cross sections. Verticutting will pull out large amounts of grass and thatch which will require cleaning and removal. It will be important to mow the grass directly after verticutting but be sure to mow at the highest height – never scalp or cut the lawn too short. Water the dethatched lawn immediately to avoid dehydration of any exposed roots.

One week after vertical mowing, you can apply 15-0-15 fertilizer at the rate of 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet to encourage recovery. Water the fertilizer in immediately to prevent burning the grass. Periodic topdressing (adding a uniform layer of soil or sand on top of the grass) with ¼ inch of soil matching the current soil is the best method to alleviate thatch accumulation. If topdressing, be sure to use soil free of weed seeds and nematodes and be careful not to exceed recommended topdressing rates. Adding too much soil or organic matter will encourages large (brown) patch disease.

Rebecca Jordi
Rebecca Jordi
Rebecca L. Jordi
Nassau County Extension Director
UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture
543350 U.S. Highway #1
Callahan, FL 32011
Call: 904 491-7340 or 904 879-1019
http://nassau.ifas.ufl.edu

The Nassau County Extension provides practical education you can trust, to help people, businesses and communities solve problems, develop skills and build a better future.