Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Cyamopsis tetragonolobus - Guar Bean

Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Shoots, Pods, Seeds, Gum, Vegetable

A herb. It is an upright bushy plant often only 1 m high. Some kinds grow 3 m high. The branches are stiff and usually with white hairs. The branches stick upwards and are angled and with grooves. The leaves are produced alternately and have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are oval and with slight saw teeth around the edge. The leaf stalks have grooves. The flowers are small in clusters in the axils of leaves. The flowers are white with pink wings. It produces clusters of thick fleshy pods. They are stiff and straight. There is a double ridge along the top of the pod and a single one below. There are also 2 ridges along the flat sides. The pods have a beak at the end. There are 8-10 small oval seeds inside.

Common Names: Guar bean, Clusterbean, Bakuchi, Bavachi gowar, Calcutta-lucerne, Dridhabija, Gawar, Goraksha, Gorani, Gorchikuda, Gorikayi, Gowar, Guar, Guwar, Gwaar ki phalli, Jhuppe simi, Kothaveray, Kulti, Kuwara, Pe-pazun, Pe-wali, Phalini, Siam-bean

Synonyms: 

Cyamopsis psoralioides (Lam.) DC;
Dolichos psoraloides Lam.;
Psoralea tetragonoloba L.;
and others