Family: Pea (Fabaceae)

Description: Slender, twining, herbaceous perennial vine with compound leaves divided into 8-15 pairs of oblong, 3/8-1/2 inch long and 1/8-1/4 inch wide leaflets. Pealike , pink to violet flowers are crowded together on axillary or terminal spikes. The green pods turn brown, splitting open to reveal numerous 1/4 inch scarlet seeds with a black base.

Blooms: June to October

Found: Pinelands, scrub, edges of hardwood forests, and disturbed sites of central and southern Florida. Native to the Old World.

Note: The seeds are very poisonous and especially dangerous to small children. The common name Rosary Pea relates to the extremely risky practice of drilling holes through the seeds to make rosary beads.