Re: Plant Id

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Mark Mayfield

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Mar 4, 2026, 10:58:17 PMMar 4

to Matthew Young, Herbarium Google group

Hi Matthew,

I was racking my brain and remembered that a few members of the legume family can produce tubers like this. My best guess at the moment is American groundnut (Apios americana), a native plant in Kansas that is edible. But before you go and eat them, I'd want to see the vegetation that grows from them. There are some others that you might not want to eat.

Best, Mark

Mark H. Mayfield
Division of Biology
1717 Claflin Rd.
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-4900
785-532-2795 (voice)

Office: 304 Bushnell Hall

From: Mark Mayfield <mark...@ksu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2026 20:36
To: Matthew Young <may...@ksu.edu>
Subject: Re: Plant Id

Hi Matthew,

I'm not immediately sparking any memories with these tubers but I'm sure I can figure it out. Do you have any more clues? LIke, how wet is it? Were they in the margin of a pond, or a wet area in a pasture? How or why did you unearth them? What was the soil like (sandy or more clay-like)? Was it in a forested site or more of a prairie? Was there any other vegetation you could identify in the vicinity?

Any clues could be helpful.

Thanks, Mark

Mark H. Mayfield
Division of Biology
1717 Claflin Rd.
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-4900
785-532-2795 (voice)

Office: 304 Bushnell Hall

From: Matthew Young <may...@ksu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2026 12:56
To: K-State Herbarium <herb...@ksu.edu>
Subject: Plant Id

Found today in a wet area in Brown County.