Apios fortunei

{{Short description|Species of plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Apios fortunei hodoimo01.jpg

|genus = Apios

|species = fortunei

|authority = Maximowicz

}}

Apios fortunei, commonly known as hodo, hodoimo, groundnut, or potatobean,{{cite thesis|last=Seabrook|first=Janet E.A.|title=A Biosystematic Study of the genus Apios Fabricius (Leguminosae) with Special Reference to Apios americana Medikus|degree=M.Sc. |publisher=The University of New Brunswick. Fredericton, Canada|year=1973}}{{cite journal|last=Kinugasa|first=Haruko|author2=Yasuto Watanbe|title=Nutritional Composition of the tubers of American groundnut (Apios americana Medikus)|journal=Sonoda Women's College Studies|year=1992|volume=26}}{{cite book|last=Hu|first=Shiu-ying|title=Food Plants of China|year=2005|publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong|location=Sha Tin, N.T., Hong Kong}}{{cite web|last=Hidemasa|first=Shimada|title=Hodoimo America (USA Katamariimo)|url=http://www2.mmc.atomi.ac.jp/web01/Flower%20Information%20by%20Vps/Flower%20Albumn/ch6-foreign%20flowers/america%20hodoimo.htm|accessdate=25 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929200242/http://www2.mmc.atomi.ac.jp/web01/Flower%20Information%20by%20Vps/Flower%20Albumn/ch6-foreign%20flowers/america%20hodoimo.htm|archive-date=29 September 2013|url-status=dead}} is a tuber-forming member of the bean family.

The plant is a perennial climbing vine. The leaves are ovate or lanceolate, pinnate with 3–7 leaflets, and {{convert|3–7|cm|frac=2}} long. The flowers are whitish green, sometimes tinted light yellowish with a red-to-purple wing petal edge, or sulphurous green with rosy wing petals; they form pseudoracemes or terminal panicles, {{convert|6–26|cm|frac=2}} long. The fruit is a linear legume, 7–8 cm long and {{convert|5–6|mm|frac=16}} wide.

Chemically, the tubers contain starch as their predominant carbohydrate, along with smaller amounts of sucrose and glucose, and almost no fructose.

The species is native to Eastern China and Japan. In the wild, it is often found near brooks. It is one of three species in the genus known to produce edible tubers, although it has generally been considered an emergency food source as well as a medicinal plant. The flowers are showy and have ornamental potential.