ROSARY PEA
Scientific name: Abrus precatorius
Family: Fabaceae/pea
Origin: India
Description:
High-climbing, winding woody vine with slender green leaf-like branches. Leaves are alternate, two-to-five inches long, with five-to-fifteen pairs of leaflets, oval to oblong, less than one inch long. Flowers are shaped like pea flowers, white to pink or reddish in color, small, in short-stalked dense clusters where leaf joins stem. Fruit is a short oblong pod, splitting before falling to reveal three to eight shiny hard seeds, red with black bases less than one inch long.
Habitat/Ecology:
Occurs in most habitats, including pine flat woods, scrub, and cypress swamp. Roots deeply and firmly. Flowers in summer, producing large quantities of fruit, seeds are dispersed by birds. Seeds are extremely poisonous for humans, cattle, and horses, one ingested seed may prove fatal.
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