Hairypod Cowpea - Vigna lutea (1 Gallon)

This vine is an annual to short-lived perennial and grows from 6-10’.  It produces attractive small bright yellow flowers that can bloom all year in our area.  The plant can have a more weedy appearance and may require a little attention to keep it managed – it can twine around all of the plants around it.  If you have deer, it is an option to plant it for them and other wildlife will use the plant mounds it can make for shelter. It can be maintained in a pot with a trellis as well.  It is a plant that loves full sun and dry to very dry conditions. 

It is a host plant for the Cassius blue, Gray hairstreak, Long-tailed skipper and Dorantes skipper butterflies. Other butterflies enjoy its nectar. Bees are the pollinator of this plant. This makes it a plant for the dedicated butterfliers to bring more movement into their gardens.  Consider keeping it contained with a pot and trellis near the butterfly garden but perhaps a little isolated in a sunny location to manage it. 

Per FNPS - The flowers and seeds are edible.  This is botanically a bean kin to mung beans and black-eyed peas (also botanically a bean). The flowers can be eaten raw or cooked and apparently taste much like green beans.  The seeds and seed pods The seeds may be boiled and eaten.  Very young whole seedpods are eaten raw as a trailside nibble, although they tend to get stringy when they approach two inches long (Florida Foraging).  Can also be grown for forage and for soil enrichment.