36+ red and black Rosary Bead (AKA: Prayer Bead / Crab's Eye / Jequinity Bean) (Abrus precatorius) seeds. These seeds are poisonous, especially if ground up and eaten; do not use on projects for children!!
(See drop down box below for larger quanitites that are available)
These striking red & black seeds of the precatory bean are used for necklaces in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. They are sometimes called prayer beans and rosary beans and have been used for rosaries. I have seen these used to simulate lady-bugs or red, beady-eyes in craft projects. They are also striking in a group for a Christmas Wreath - for example.
I have had several people tell me they were using these in the making of Sailor's Valentines.
Sailor's valentines were made in Barbados between 1830 and 1880 by the natives and sold to English and American sailors. This was a port of call for the ships coming home. The sailors bought these souvenirs and took them home as tokens of love to their wives or girlfriends.
These seeds are very hard-shelled and well dried - they DO NOT have holes drilled in them. To string these as beads, you would need to be able to drill holes in them.
These grow on a vine which can become invasive in tropical areas. Flowers on the vine are fairly small, violet in color and relatively inconspicuous, their real attraction is the bright red seeds that form in pods in the winter.
This vine is cold hardy in zone 9b and warmer. From my experience, it is NOT suitable to grow as an annual in colder zones as it does not bloom the first year from seed.
**Abrus precatorius seeds are very poisonous! **
**DO NOT USE FOR CRAFTS INTENDED FOR CHILDREN or NEAR PETS **
Other Commn Names for these peas are:
- abrus a chapelet (France, Quebec)
- colorine (Mexico)
- crab's eye and Black-Eyed Suzies (Southeastern U.S.)
- gunga, gunteh (India -- its native bio-region)
- jequerite (Colombia)
- jequrity bean (Canada)
- lady bug bean, lady bug seed (California)
- ojo de cangrejo (Panama)
- peronilla (Colombia)
- prayer bean (Great Britain)
- precatory pea, precatory bean (Great Britain, Canada)
- rosary bean, rosary pea (U.S.)
I cannot ship these seeds to the following states: FLORIDA
