Entada phaseoloides(L.) Merr.

Matchbox beanSt. Thomas bean

WFO wfo-0000192476 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 6 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 6 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Steve Fitzgerald
fig. a Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-04-07 / obs. 186639528
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. b Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 142775722
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Pieter Pelser
fig. c Pieter Pelser, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 24452298
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Dominik Maximilián Ramík
fig. d Dominik Maximilián Ramík, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197184625
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by coenobita
fig. e coenobita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 31080513
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Steve Fitzgerald
fig. f Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 186639540
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. g Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 142775782
Entada phaseoloides, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. h Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 142525383

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 39 botanical countries

Regions where Entada phaseoloides is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, East Himalaya, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., South China Sea, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Caroline Is., Cook Is., Fiji, Hawaii, Marianas, Marshall Is., New Caledonia, Phoenix Is., Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tonga, Tubuai Is., Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is. China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanTibetBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoEast HimalayaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalukuMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.SulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandFijiHawaiiNew Caledonia Nansei-shotoSouth China SeaCaroline Is.Cook Is.MarianasMarshall Is.SamoaTongaTubuai Is.VanuatuWallis-Futuna Is.
Native distribution of Entada phaseoloides, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Bangladesh BAN ASIA-TROPICAL
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
East Himalaya EHM
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
South China Sea SCS
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Cook Is. COO
Fiji FIJ
Hawaii HAW
Marianas MRN
Marshall Is. MRS
New Caledonia NWC
Phoenix Is. PHX
Samoa SAM
Santa Cruz Is. SCZ
Tonga TON
Tubuai Is. TUB
Vanuatu VAN
Wallis-Futuna Is. WAL
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD

Not drawn on the map: Phoenix Is., Santa Cruz Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 21 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Acacia scandens (L.) Willd.
  • Acacia sulcata F.Dietr.
  • Adenanthera gago Blanco
  • Adenanthera scandens (L.) G.Forst.
  • Adenanthera scandens Veill.
  • Entada adenanthera DC.
  • Entada gandu Hoffmanns.
  • Entada parrana Spreng.
  • Entada rumphii Scheff.
  • Entada scandens (L.) Benth.
  • Entada scandens var. aequilatera Domin
  • Entada scandens var. discosperma Jum. & H.Perrier
  • Faba marina-major Rumph.
  • Gigalobium scandens (L.) Hitchc.
  • Lens phaseoloides L.
  • Mimosa blancoana Llanos
  • Mimosa scandens L.
  • Perima odorata Raf.
  • Prosopis scandens (L.) Stokes
  • Pusaetha scandens (L.) Kuntze
  • Strepsilobus scandens (L.) Raf.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.