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[[File:Map Tylosema esculentum.gif|thumb|distribution in Africa (wild)]][[File:Linedrawing Tylosema esculentum.gif|thumb|1, part of flowering stem; 2, fruit; 3, seed. Redrawn and adapted by Achmad Satiri Nurhaman]][[File:Tylosema esculentum 01 EcoPort R. Botha.jpg|thumb|seeds]]
<big>''[[Tylosema esculentum]]'' (Burch.) Schreib.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Tylosema esculentum'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 3: 611 (1960).
== Synonyms ==
*''Bauhinia esculenta'' Burch. (1824).
== Vernacular names ==
*Marama bean, morama bean, gemsbok bean, camel’s foot (En). *Marama (Fr).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
Marama bean is an important part of the diet of the Khoisan people in the Kalahari, where subsistence agriculture is marginal due to drought and low soil fertility, and it is a delicacy among other peoples in southern Africa. The seeds are eaten boiled or roasted. They may be boiled with maize meal or ground into flour to prepare a porridge or a coffee- or cocoa-like drink. Roasted seeds are sometimes sold locally but only on a small scale. Marama beans have a pleasant sweet flavour when boiled or roasted, comparable to roasted cashew nuts or almonds, although bitter types are known. The roasted seeds have sometimes been used by Europeans in southern Africa as a culinary substitute for almonds. Immature seeds and stems may be eaten cooked as a vegetable or in soups. The seed oil is used in Botswana for cooking and for making butter. Young tubers are eaten baked, boiled or roasted, as a vegetable dish. Tubers older than 2 years become fibrous and bitter and are usually not eaten, but they are an important emergency source of water for humans and animals. The pods and tubers are recorded to be eaten by animals, but it is not clear whether the foliage is browsed, as contradictory reports exist. Marama bean may have potential as a ground cover or ornamental.
== Properties ==
== Description ==
*Perennial herb or shrub, with tuberous root; stems prostrate and trailing, up to 6 m long, herbaceous or lower parts woody, rusty-hairy, with axillary forked tendrils 1–4 cm long. *Leaves alternate, simple; stipules 3–5 mm × 2–3 mm; petiole 1.5–3.5 cm long; blade 2-lobed for more than half its length, glabrous or pubescent beneath; lobes reniform, 3.5–5 cm × 5–6.5 cm. *Inflorescence a lateral raceme up to 16 cm long; peduncle 2–4 cm long. *Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, 5-merous, heterostylous; pedicel 2–4.5 cm long; sepals free but upper 2 fused, 8–12 mm × 2–3 mm, rusty-hairy; petals unequal, 4 larger ones 1.5–2.5 cm × 1–1.5 cm and tapering into a basal claw, the upper one smaller, yellow turning reddish with age; stamens 2, free, with filaments 6–12 mm long, staminodes 8, with filaments 3–6 mm long; ovary superior, 5–6 mm long, 1-celled, style elongate, stigma small. *Fruit an ovoid to oblong pod 3.5–6 cm × 3–4 cm, flattened, woody, 1–2(–6)-seeded, constricted between the seeds. *Seeds ovoid to globose, 1.3–2.5 cm × 1.2–1.5 cm, reddish to brownish black.
== Other botanical information ==
Propagation of marama bean is by seed. Germination is sometimes said to be improved by scarification. Soaking will kill the seed and it should not be sown in waterlogged soils. The 1000-seed weight is 2–3 kg. Preliminary results under laboratory conditions show that vegetative propagation using sprouts is possible.
== Harvesting ==
== Author(s) ==
* L.J.G. van der Maesen , Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Gen. Foulkesweg 37, 6703 BL Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
van der Maesen, L.J.G., 2006. '''Tylosema esculentum''' (Burch.) A.Schreib. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Brink, M. & Belay, G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Cereals and pulses (PROTA)]]