DESCRIPTIONOkapoke is usually found climbing up the palisades in the traditional homesteads. It stays green throughout the rainy season and long into the dry winter. The white flowers appear at the end of the rainy season with the onset of shorter days. The short pods develop at the end of the dry season. Seeds are large and cream in colour. The plants produce relatively few seeds.USEOkapoke leaves are boiled and eaten as for most other species.POTENTIAL FOR CULTIVATIONOkapoke may have a good potential for cultivation as it is very drought resistant and produce a wealth of foliage with very little effort.SIMILAR SPECIESOkapoke is very similar to the lablab bean (Lablab niger) which has been introduced recently from other countries. Okapoke, however, has a very pleasant smell of fresh herbs, while the lablab bean varieties that we have seen emit a very pungent and unpleasant smell.
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