Mucuna pruriens
Summary 6
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume known as velvet bean and by other common names (see below), native to Africa and Asia and widely naturalized. The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It has value in agricultural and horticultural use and has a range of medicinal properties.
Diagnostic description 7
Mucuna pruriens (L.) Dc., Prodr. 2: 405. 1825.
Basionym: Dolichos pruriens L.
Synonym: Stizolobium pruriens (L.) Medic.
Slightly woody vine, twining, attainig 5-7 m in length. Stems pubescent, cylindrical, striate, glabrescent. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets chartaceous, the apex acute or obtuse, mucronate, the upper surface dark green, dull, puberulent, the lower surface pale green, strigulose, with prominent venation, the margins slightly sinuate; terminal leaflet rhombic-ovate, (5.5)7.5-15 × 4-6 cm, the base obtuse, rounded to almost cuneate; lateral leaflets markedly asymmetrical, one side oblong, the other ovate, 5)7.5-13(18) x (2.8)4.5-7.2(10.3) cm, the base obtuse on one side, truncate on the other; petiolules pubescent, 4-6 mm long; rachis 1.2-2 cm long, strigose; petioles 4.5-16.5 cm long, strigose, with the base swollen; stipules minute, caducous; stipels linear, 4-5 mm long. Inflorescences of axillary pseudoracemes, 10-30 cm long, with 1-3 flowers per node. Calyx grayish green, campanulate-asymmetrical, 1-1.5 cm long, sericeous-pubescent, mixed with some stiff hairs, the sepals unequal, triangular, deep; standard ovate, 1.5-2 cm long, violet, the wings purple, oblong, ca. 4 cm long, the keel pale violet; staminal column almost white, exserted, the anthers violet. Legume more or less cylindrical, with the curved extremities forming an ‘s’, 4-10 × 1-1.4 cm, densely covered with stiff, extremely stinging hairs, dehiscent by valves that open in a spiral. Seeds ellipsoid, brown with black spots, ca. 1 cm long, with a cream-colored hilum, ca. 5 mm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower from August to April and in fruit from October to January.
Status: Probably native, rather common.
Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7123; 10627; 10795; Axelrod, F. 11009; Goll, G.P. 698; 719; 721; Heller, A.A. 4403; Liogier, A.H. 31882; Sargent, F.H. 609; 643; Sintenis, P. 148; 3107; Stevenson, J.A. 2115; 2170; 2174.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Ton Rulkens, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/47108884@N07/4500436724/
- (c) Dinesh Valke, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinesh_valke/3051742325/
- (c) Dinesh Valke, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinesh_valke/6425610525/
- (c) Aurelio Molina Hernández., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Aurelio Molina Hernández.
- (c) Guy Eric Onjalalaina, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Guy Eric Onjalalaina
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucuna_pruriens
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435377
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- African Plants - a photo guide
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
