Mucuna

Mucuna
Mucuna gigantea flowers
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
Genus: Mucuna
Adans.[1]
Species

More than 110, see text.

Synonyms[2][1]

Homotypic:

  • Hornera Neck. ex A.Juss. (1821), nom. superfl.

Heterotypic:

  • Cacuvallum Medik. (1787)
  • Carpopogon Roxb. (1827)
  • Citta Lour. (1790)
  • Labradia Swediaur (1801)
  • Macranthus Lour. (1790)
  • Marcanthus Lour., orth. var.
  • Macroceratides Raddi (1820)
  • Negretia Ruiz & Pav. (1794)
  • Pillera Endl. (1833)
  • Stizolobium P.Browne (1756), nom. rej.
  • Zoophthalmum P.Browne (1756)

Mucuna is a genus of around 114 accepted species of climbing lianas (vines) and shrubs of the family Fabaceae: tribe Phaseoleae, typically found in tropical and subtropical forests in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, southern, southeastern, and eastern Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.[2]

The leaves are trifoliolate, alternate, or spiraled, and the flowers are pea-like but larger, with distinctive curved petals, and occurring in racemes. Like other legumes, Mucuna plants bear pods. They are generally bat-pollinated and produce seeds that are buoyant sea-beans. These have a characteristic three-layered appearance, appearing like the eyes of a large mammal in some species and like a hamburger in others (most notably M. sloanei) and giving rise to common names like deer-eye beans, donkey-eye beans, ox-eye beans, or hamburger seed.

The name of the genus is derived from mucunã, a Tupi–Guarani word for these species.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Genus: Mucuna Adans". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference POWO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 3 M-Q. CRC Press. p. 1738. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.