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Canavalia Rosea Maritima Beach Coastal Jack Bean Seeds
Packet of 10+ seeds of the mighty Jack bean!
Commonly known as the Bay Bean, Beach Bean, Mackenzie Bean, Seaside bean, Coastal Jackbean, Sea bean, Canavalia apiculata, Canavalia arenicola, Canavalia baueriana, Canavalia emarginata, Canavalia miniata, Canavalia obcordata, Canavalia obtusifolia, Dolichos emarginatus, Dolichos littoralis, Dolichos maritimus, Dolichos miniatus, Dolichos obcordatus, Dolichos obtusifolius, Dolichos roseus, Dolichos rotundifolius, and I am sure a myriad of other names that no one can agree on…
This plant is very interesting for so many different reasons.
The main use is as an edible ornamental, due to the beautiful flower of this quite spectacular native.
But not only is it a bushtucker, its also a decent vegetable in its own right.
Like all the other Canavalia species the beans must be cooked before you eat them or they will give you a gut ache, but with the smaller flat immature pods they can just be boiled or fried in a little butter and garlic like any other bean.
Not bad at all!
With the larger but still immature green pods you just shell them and cook the soft white beans the same as broadbeans. Great in an onion gravy.
The fully mature pods are dried and the dark brown beans are removed and roasted for a near identical coffee substitute.
If that wasn’t enough, the dried green leaves can apparently be smoked as a relaxant much the same as traditional smoking herbs and a quick google online shows a booming trade in them.
It’s one of the main ingredients of many Spice like blends available these days. (Don’t smoke the plant folks, just grow it. Smoking anything is bad for your lungs.)
Traditionally an infusion was used to relieve the symptoms of rheumatism, general pain due to inflammation and bruising, skin disorders, and even aches from the common cold.
Very useful native, and you still see all along the beaches and it in the bush today from northern NSW up through Queensland, and in large parts of coastal Western Australia.
I often come across patches quite far inland along creek lines, and in regrowth forest.
It’s an excellent pioneering species in poor rocky soils and is used extensively by some landcare groups in sandy beaches, dunes, and coastal scrub.
Super easy to grow just make sure to use a sandy well draining soil mix to start them.
If you are in a hurry you can nick or scratch the seed(avoiding the eye/shoot bit), but if planted as is here they are generally up within the month.
After germination they handle any conditions really and they produce heaps of beans.
You don’t get tougher than these guys!
We generally start them in little pots and plant them where we have tried and failed to grow something many times before.
We have them growing up gum Trees and wattles and all we do is just a little hole scratched out at the base of the tree and add piece of Cotton string thrown over a branch to get them started climbing.
About a month after planting out we leave them for nature to sort out.
No failures yet!
And even more importantly, it looks really really cool, the birds and bees love the flowers, so does the Mrs!
Grown by us organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!
