Sropostyles helvola, or Trailing wild bean, is a twining annual with trifoliate leaves. Its small flowers are distinctive with pink wing petals and inward curving keel with a strong purple cast.
S. helvola is common along beaches, low dunes and adjacent marches. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are known to increase the plant’s salt tolerance in dune environments.
References
Tsang, A., & Maun, M. (1999). Mycorrhizal fungi increase salt tolerance of strophostyles helvola in coastal foredunes. Plant Ecology, 144(2), 159-166.
Duncan, W. H., & Duncan, M. B. (1987). The Smithsonian guide to seaside plants of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts from Louisiana to Massachusetts, exclusive of lower peninsular Florida. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press.
