Corkscrew flower (Vigna caracalla) blooms from the end of July up to the first frost of fall. Highly fragrant (reminiscent of hyacinths), white, corkscrew-shaped flowers mature to purple-pink. This member of the pea family (Fabaceae) is a vine that can reach 20 feet in height in a single growing season when grown in full sun, in well-drained but moist soils, and given moderate fertilizer.

This native of tropical Central and South America was described by Thomas Jefferson in 1792: "The most beautiful bean in the world is the caracalla bean, which though in England a glass-house plant, may grow in the open air in Virginia and Carolina."

The species name is a derivation of the Portuguese caracal (snail), in reference to the resemblance of the shape of the flowers to a snail shell.