Pueraria

Pueraria
Pueraria phaseoloides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Clade: Millettioids
Tribe: Phaseoleae
Subtribe: Glycininae
Genus: Pueraria
DC. (1825)
Species[1]

18; see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Bujacia E.Mey. (1836)
  • Glycine L. (1753), nom. rej.
  • Zeydora Lour. ex Gomes Mach. (1868)

Pueraria is a genus of 15–20[2] species of legumes native to south, east, and southeast Asia and to New Guinea and northern Australia.[1] The best known member is kudzu, also called Japanese arrowroot.[3][4] The genus is named after 19th century Swiss botanist Marc Nicolas Puerari.

Plants in the genus are lianas, shrubs, or climbing herbs, usually with large tuberous roots. Typical habitats include seasonally-dry tropical and subtropical forest, rain forest, forest margins, and scrub vegetation, often on limestone outcrops and in rocky areas.[1]

The genus, as traditionally circumscribed, is polyphyletic, with different species being more related to other species in the tribe Phaseoleae.[5] Current research, reproduced below, splits the genus into five clades, one of which defines the current monophyletic genus.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d "Pueraria DC. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Pueraria DC". Flora of Pakistan.
  3. ^ "Plants Profile for Pueraria montana (kudzu)". USDA. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Pueraria montana var. lobata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. ^ Lee, J; Hymowitz, T. (2001). "A Molecular Phylogenetic Study of the Subtribe Glycininae (Leguminosae) Derived from the Chloroplast DNA RPS16 Intron Sequences". American Journal of Botany. 88 (11). Botanical Society of America: 2064–2073. doi:10.2307/3558432. JSTOR 3558432. PMID 21669638.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference egan16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).