Brown Hamburger Bean
Mucuna sloanei
Markings and exact colorations may vary.
A round, glossy brown sea bean with a black band around most of its edge — a classic burger look.
- Typical size
- 0.8–1.2 in
- How often it turns up
- Uncommon
- Collecting
- Usually legal to collect
- Handling
- Safe to handle
Drift seeds are generally fine to pick up on public beaches. Don't remove plants or seeds from parks, preserves or dunes.
How to tell it apart
- Round, slightly flattened seed about 1 in across
- Smooth chestnut-to-dark-brown surface without heavy mottling
- Wide black hilum band wrapping about three-quarters around the edge
Found one?
Photograph it and BeachNut ranks the likely matches with a confidence read, then logs it to your collection with the beach and date.
Browsing beaches and the full field guide is free. A free account logs unlimited finds and gives you three photo identifications a day.
Commonly confused with
Red Hamburger BeanMucuna urens
Brown is smooth chestnut to dark brown; red is maroon and usually speckled.
Hamburger BeanMucuna species
Pick Brown when the face is plain brown; use the general Hamburger Bean entry if you can't tell.
More sea beans in the field guide
Get Florida beachcombing tips
Occasional emails: what's washing up, shelling tips and new BeachNut features. No spam, unsubscribe any time.