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  1. Family: Fabaceae Lindl.

    1. Mucuna Adans.

        2. This genus is accepted, and its native range is Tropics & Subtropics.

    [LOWO]

    Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

    Vernacular
    buffalo bean, mucuná
    Habit
    Mostly lianas
    Ecology
    Tropical wet lowland to montane, often coastal rain forest, to seasonally dry forest, woodland and thicket
    Distribution
    pantropical (c. 80 spp. in Asia and China, 1-2 spp. in Australia; c. 12 spp. in Africa, Madagascar and Mascarenes; c. 12-13 spp. in the Neotropics, centred in C America & the Caribbean)
    Note
    Stizolobium is sometimes maintained as a separate genus but is retained under Mucuna here pending full revision; molecular evidence (Doyle et al., 2000) places Mucuna sister to tribe Desmodieae

    Previous accounts of the Phaseoleae by Baudet (1978) and Lackey (1981) recognised 90 and 84 genera and c. 1540 and 1480 species respectively in the tribe. In an equivalent, i.e. traditionally held view of Phaseoleae, 89 genera and (1554)–1567–(1580) species are treated here (Table 9; Fig. 47). Changes between Baudet (1978) and this treatment are that eleven genera are now in synonymy or have subsequently been placed in Millettieae, two genera have been transferred from Desmodieae and eight new genera have been added. Vigna has traditionally been thought to comprise some 150–200 species, but Vigna sens. strict. may contain fewer than 100.

    Recent molecular analyses of the tribe, however, have emphasised both the polyphyletic and paraphyletic nature of Phaseoleae as traditionally circumscribed (Bruneau & Doyle, 1990; Doyle & Doyle, 1993; Delgado Salinas et al., 1993; Bruneau et al., 1995; Doyle et al., 1997, 2000; Kajita et al., 2001; Goel et al., 2001; Lee & Hymowitz, 2001). This has required a radical realignment of elements of the phaseoloids (Table 9; Fig. 47), with at least two major clades being evident: Phaseoleae subtribes Diocleinae and Ophrestiinae which together with tribe Abreae are allied to the core-Millettieae (Fig. 45), and the remaining groups comprising a Phaseoleae sens. lat. clade. The rbcL phylogeny of Kajita et al. (2001) and the ITS analysis of Hu et al. (2002) are equivocal as to which clade subtribe Clitoriinae belongs. Phaseoleae sens. lat. also includes two traditionally independent tribes, the Desmodieae and Psoraleeae. Delimiting a recircumscribed Phaseoleae sens. strict is thus very problematic. A solution may be to recognise a broad tribe Phaseoleae, comprising the subtribes Kennediinae, Cajaninae, Phaseolinae and Glycininae, assorted basally branching genera, and tribes Desmodieae and Psoraleeae (both treated at subtribal level).

    [FZ]

    Leguminosae, B. Mackinder, R. Pasquet, R. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora Zambesiaca 3:5. 2001

    Habit
    Climbing herbs, woody lianes or rarely erect shrubs.
    Leaves
    Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules deciduous; stipels often present.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescences axillary, subumbellate, falsely racemose or condensed paniculate; bracts and bracteoles deciduous.
    Flowers
    Flowers showy, white, purple, red or greenish-yellow to golden-yellow or almost black.
    Calyx
    Calyx 4–5-lobed, 2-lipped, the upper pair of lobes connate to form an entire or bifid lip.
    Corolla
    Standard rounded, with inflexed auricles at the base, usually much shorter than the other petals; keel petals usually horny at the apex.
    Stamens
    Vexillary stamen free; 5 larger anthers subbasifixed, alternating with 5 shorter versatile or dorsifixed anthers, often barbate.
    Pistil
    Ovary few-ovuled; style long, filiform, sometimes pubescent but not bearded, bent; stigma small and terminal.
    Fruits
    Pods ovoid, oblong or linear, the valves thick, often ribbed, frequently covered with irritant bristles, septate or filled between the seeds, mostly dehiscent but sometimes not opening.
    Seeds
    Seeds either globose or oblong, with a short or linear hilum and conspicuous rim aril, or larger, discoid, with an elongated hilum occupying over half the circumference and no aril present.
    [FTEA]

    Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

    Habit
    Climbing herbs, woody lianes or rarely erect shrubs
    Leaves
    Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules deciduous; stipels often present
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescences axillary, subumbellate, falsely racemose or condensed paniculate; bracts and bracteoles deciduous
    Flowers
    Flowers showy, purple, red or greenish-yellow
    Calyx
    Calyx 4–5-lobed, 2-lipped, the upper pair of lobes connate to form an entire or bifid lip
    Corolla
    Standard rounded, with inflexed auricles at the base, usually much shorter than the other petals; keel-petals usually horny at the apex
    Stamens
    Vexillary stamen free; 5 larger anthers subbasifixed, alternating with 5 shorter versatile or dorsifixed anthers, often barbate
    Pistil
    Ovary few-ovuled; style long, filiform, sometimes pubescent but not bearded, bent; stigma small and terminal
    Fruits
    Pods or fruits ovoid, oblong or linear, the valves thick, often ribbed, frequently covered with irritant bristles, septate or filled between the seeds, mostly dehiscent but sometimes not opening
    Seeds
    Seeds either globose or oblong, with a short or linear hilum and conspicuous rim-aril, or larger, discoid, with an elongated hilum occupying over half the circumference and no aril present.
    [LOWO]
    Use
    Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. (velvet, Bengal or Mauritius bean) , is widely grown for forage and as a cover crop and green manure; the hairs on many species (often known as buffalo bean ) are an intense irritant; some species are ornamentals

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Assam, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Borneo, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cabinda, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Central American Pac, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Ghana, Gilbert Is., Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jawa, Kazan-retto, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maluku, Marianas, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Is., Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Ogasawara-shoto, Pakistan, Panamá, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Réunion, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Is., Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

    Introduced into:

    Bahamas, Florida, Mauritius, Queensland, Society Is., Transcaucasus

    Mucuna Adans. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Chancellor, R.J. [300], Uganda 11482.000
    Powell, D.A. [98] 32071.000
    Strahm, W., Mauritius 59149.000
    Orr, D., USA 58721.000
    Brown, R. [s.n.], Australia K000279328
    Mueller, F. von [s.n.], Australia K000279331
    Pollard, B.J. [502], Cameroon K000460199

    First published in Fam. Pl. 2: 325 (1763)

    Accepted by

    • De Moura, T.M., Lewis, G.P., Mansano, V.F. & Tozzi, A.M.G.A. (2018). A revision of the neotropical Mucuna species (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) Phytotaxa 337: 1-65.
    • Wilmot-Dear, C.M. (2008). Mucuna Adans. (Leguminosae) in Thailand Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 36: 114-139.

    Literature

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • —F.T.A. 2: 184.
    Flora Zambesiaca
    • in Kirkia 14: 1–11 (1993).
    • in F.T.E.A., Leguminosae, Pap.: 561–571 (1971)
    • Verdcourt in Kew Bull. 24: 286–293 (1970)
    • Prain, J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 66: 404 (1897).
    • Fam. Pl. 2: 325 (1763) nom. conserv.
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • Prain, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal 66: 404 (1897), nom. conserv .
    • Fam. Pl. 2: 325 (1763)

    Sources

    Art and Illustrations in Digifolia
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China
    The Malesian Key Group (2010) Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China (Version 2.0, 28 Jul 2010) The Nationaal Herbarium Nederland Leiden and The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Legumes of the World Online
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0