Mimosa scandens Benth.

Common Names:
St. Thomas bean

Classification:
Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr.
Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivsion: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Divsion: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae - Pea family
Genus: Entada Adans.
Species: Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr. - St. Thomas bean
(USDA National Plant Database 2006)

has bi-pinnately compound leaves that are divided into 1-2 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets are somewhat elliptical, between 2.5 and 10 cm long and 1 to 6 cm wide. Flowers are arranged in a raceme (inflorescence that blooms from the bottom topward)having green to red colored sepals and green to cream colored petals that are between 2-3.5 mm long. The pods can grow very large, up to 200 cm long and 13 cm wide. Each pod contains between 10 and 20 reddish brown seeds that are lens shaped and about 4 to 6 cm in diameter. The lianas typically grow along streams and seeds are widely dispersed by oceanic currents.

Western Pacific. Specimens were collected in Hawai`in in the early part of the 20th century, but it is not certain if this speices is native in the Eastern Pacific.

The thick lianas conain large amounts of fresh water which are employed as a refreshing drink in the lowland rainforest. The water is drunk directly from the cut stem sections.