Castanospermum or Black Bean is a monotypic genus in the legume family Fabaceae. The sole species is Castanospermum australe, commonly known as Moreton Bay chestnut or black bean, which is native to rainforested areas on the east coast of Queensland and northeastern New South Wales, and to the southwest Pacific islands of Vanuatu and New Caledonia
The leaves are 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long and 6–7 centimetres (2.4–2.8 in) broad, pinnate, with 11-15 leaflets. The flowers are bicoloured red and yellow, 3–4 centimetres (1.2–1.6 in) long, produced in racemes 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod 12–20 centimetres (4.7–7.9 in) long and 4–6 centimetres (1.6–2.4 in) diameter, the interior divided by a spongy substance into one to five cells, each of which contains a large chestnut-like seed.
PREPARATION: You need to boil Blackbean pods for at least an hour (sometimes a bit more) to really saturate them, because they do float like mad when first immersed. After they are boiled you can use a spoon to take out the soft spongy inner layer of the shell. After this is done your cave is ready to be used.
ORIGIN: Native to Australia we source ours from Cairns FNQ
All our Australian Botanicals are pest and pollution free and are organically sourced.
NOTE: These are a natural product, and display variation in colour, size, and texture. Each pod is unique! The photo serves as a reasonable representation of what to expect.
All of our aquatic botanicals are intended for ornamental aquarium or terrarium use only. Please use common sense and take the time to boil or soak all botanicals prior to using them, to reduce the possibility of problems. All our botanicals have been tried and tested, in saying that though go slow when introducing any botanicals into your systems, so you can judge the effect they have on your fishes and plants. They are not intended for human consumption. DO NOT INGEST!
NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION