The Rosary Pea (also known as Precatory Bean, Crab’s Eye Vine, Jumbie Bead, and many other names) was native to tropical Asia. As humans became more mobile, they took the shiny red-and-black seeds with them. Sometimes deliberately, often accidentally, they have been planted in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. Missionaries and artisans found that the seeds made beautifully shiny bright-red rosary beads, necklaces, and bracelets. However, piercing one of these seeds for such things creates a serious threat. Rosary Pea seeds are very hard and less likely to cause harm if swallowed intact. But, if crushed by chewing, the toxins inside can be lethal. Birds will eat them, but can’t digest them and they are defecated intact with a bit of fertilizer, thus aiding their spread. Rosary pea is now very common in peninsular Florida.
Rosary peas are produced in late summer and fall and remain on the vine well into spring. New flowers and seeds are produced from early summer through the fall. March is a good time to collect and destroy the bright red seeds to at least help reduce the number of new plants. Plucking and destroying the flowers in late summer and fall can reduce the next seed crop. Unfortunately these are very tough, continuously growing plants with deep roots. Rosary Pea vines can grow can high into trees and seem to love climbing on fences. Unfortunately they seem to be here to stay.