Black beans

            Leguminosae

            Black Bean

            Thua thale (Ranong), Rang Kathae (Southern), Langkadai, Nangkadai (Malaysian – Southern)

            Small, medium plants, vines running 10-20 m. long, white dots at the base of the leaves. Plant tips are pyramid shaped, greenish yellow. Roots 5-20 cm. long, above ground, gray or brown bark, smooth or cracked, leaves cluster at the tip, alternate,ovate 3-5 X 7-15 cm. acument, triangular base, yellowish green, long stems, 1.5-2 cm. stipulate 3-6 cm. long, papilionaceous, 8 petals, hairy at rim with 3 flowers inflorescence of racemace axillary, clusters 3-7, stem 1.8-2.2 cm. long, green, floralets, with stems 0.6-1.5 cm. long, stiff strands of hair. Pod cylinders 1.3-2.5 cm. long in straight row 0.3-0.6 X 8-18 cm., green when young and brown when mature. Plants grow and produce all year round in inner (inter?) costal forest where tide come in regularly

            Protein, carbohydrate, beta carotene, niacin, Vitamins B1 and B2 Medicine:

Sweet taste, good for blood and kidneys, stimulates flow of fluid in the body, antispasmodic for digestive discomfort, anti-toxic, treats heartburn, improves eyesight, anti-edematous, treats beriberi, jaundice, nephritis, aches and pains of all types.

            All year round

            

Thai School Network. Thua Dam. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://www.school.net.th/library/webcontest2003/100team/dlss020/A2/A2-17.html (in Thai).