Index / Search / Lablab purpureus

§1 Plant

Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet

vernacular hyacinthbean — species · Fabaceae


USDA
LAPU6
GBIF
2952236
Rank
species
hyacinthbean (Lablab purpureus)
Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Vine
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Lablab
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
  • VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 11 counties across 7 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 11 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
31 °F minimum
Frost-free days
300 min.
Precipitation
24–98 in/yr
pH range
4.5–7.8
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
4 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,800
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 11 counties across 7 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LAPU6 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2952236 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T12:10:33Z