Job’s Tears

Coix lacryma-jobi

This variety has hard-shelled, white, oval, pearly white seed pods used as beads in making rosaries, necklaces, and hippie curtains. When cultivated, it is harvested as a cereal crop, and is used medicinally in parts of Asia. The Cherokee in Oklahoma call these “corn beads” and use them for personal adornment.

Water: Moderate

Hardiness: Frost tender, but can perennialize if protected