Index / Search / Macroptilium atropurpureum

§1 Plant

Macroptilium atropurpureum (Moc. & Sessé ex DC.) Urb.

vernacular purple bushbean — species · Fabaceae

USDA: MAAT80
GBIF: 2945047
Rank: species

purple bushbean (Macroptilium atropurpureum) — Platephotograph · 羅忠良CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Vine
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Macroptilium

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PR Puerto Rico Native

§2b

County-level range

· 12 counties across 3 states/territories

Legend Native · 12 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 23 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 15–111 in/yr
pH range: 5–8
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Thicket Forming
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 4 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Medium
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Indeterminate
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 34,019
Propagation: cuttings, container

§3e

Use & availability

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

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 12 counties across 3 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Pima 04019

Florida view state ↗ 7 N ▾

Texas view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/MAAT80 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2945047 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T12:30:10Z