Changes

*''Dolichos gladiatus'' Jacq. (1787), *''Canavalia'' ''ensiformis'' (L.) DC. var. ''gladiata'' (Jacq.) Kuntze (1898), *''C. ensiformis'' auct. non (L.) DC.

*Sword bean (En). *Pois sabre (Fr)

Sword bean is of Asiatic or African origin. It is only known in cultivation and is probably derived from ''C.'' ''virosa'' (Roxb.) Wight & Arnott, the most closely related wild species, occurring mainly in Africa. Sword bean is widely cultivated in South and South-East Asia, especially in India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Indo-China. It has now spread throughout the tropics and has become naturalized in some areas.

Sword bean is used as vegetable, cover crop, forage and green manure. The young green pods are extensively eaten in tropical Asia, served as a boiled green vegetable similar to common bean ( ''Phaseolus vulgaris'' L.). The full-grown but still fresh, green seeds are consumed as a cooked vegetable similar to broad bean ( ''Vicia faba'' L.). Sword bean is not a popular pulse because of the strong flavour and the thick, tough seed-coat. Dry, fully mature seeds should be eaten with caution as they may be somewhat poisonous. Detoxification by changing the cooking water, soaking, rinsing or fermentation is possible but laborious. White seeds are considered to have a better flavour than coloured seeds.

Both the flowers and young leaves are used steamed as a flavouring. In Java sword bean is used as a short-duration cover crop and as a green manure. It is occasionally used as fodder but less so than the related jack bean ( ''C.'' ''ensiformis'' (L.) DC.). Pink seeds are sometimes employed in traditional Chinese medicine. The urease extracted from sword beans is used in analytical laboratories.

*A vigorous, woody, perennial climber, 3-10 m long, often grown as an annual. *Root system deeply penetrating the soil. *Leaves trifoliolate, petiole 5-17 cm long, petiolules 4-7 mm; leaflets ovate, 7.5-20 cm × 5-14 cm, acuminate, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces. *Inflorescence an axillary raceme, 7-12 cm long, peduncle 4-20 cm long, pedicels 2 mm long; flowers often reflexed; calyx up to 16 mm long; standard ca. 3.5 cm long, white. *Fruit a legume, linear-oblong, slightly compressed, 15-40 cm × 2.5-5 cm, widest near the apex, sometimes curved with strongly developed ridges, containing 8-16 seeds. *Seeds oblong-ellipsoid, strongly compressed, 2-3.5 cm × 1.5-2 cm, pink, red, reddish-brown to almost black, rarely white; hilum 1.5-2 cm long, dark brown; seed-coat very tough and thick.

Cultivars vary widely, particularly in the degree of twining, the size of the pods and the number and colour of the seeds. In some areas semi-erect forms are found. Forms with red or reddish to blackish seeds are sometimes classified as ''C.'' ''gladiata'' var. ''gladiata'' and forms with white seeds as var. ''alba'' (Makino) Hisauchi.

''C. gladiata'' is often confused with ''C. ensiformis'' because their vegetative parts and flowers are very similar. However, they can be distinguished by their pods and seeds. In ''C.'' ''ensiformis'' the pod is usually more than 8 times as long as broad (in ''C.'' ''gladiata'' less than 8 times), and the hilum is less than half the length of the seed (in ''C.'' ''gladiata'' more than half the length of the seed). ''C.'' ''ensiformis'' is of New World origin.

Sword bean requires a tropical climate. It grows well at temperatures of 20-30°C 30 °C and is cultivated from sea-level up to 1000 m altitude. Its deep root system allows sword bean to survive dry conditions, but it fares best with an evenly distributed rainfall of 900-1500 mm/year. It grows well on the very leached, nutrient-depleted, lowland tropical soils and on acid soils with a pH of 4.5-7.0. It is more resistant to saline soils and less affected by waterlogging or drought than many other legumes. It also tolerates some shade.

Sword bean is usually grown near houses and allowed to trail on walls, fences and trees. It is propagated by seed, sown at a depth of 5-7.5 cm, at seed rates of 25-40 kg/ha. Plants are usually spaced 45-60 cm apart, in rows 75-90 cm apart. Sword bean is rather resistant to attack from diseases and pests. The most serious fungal disease is root rot ( ''Colletotrichum'' ''lindemuthianum'' ). Major pests are fall army worm ( ''Spodoptera frugiperda'' ) and beetle grubs that bore into the stems. At the end of the season, the crop should be dug up and burned. If grown as a perennial it is recommended that plants are kept not more than two years.

*G. Kooi