3877.000 Mucuna Adans. - Buffalo beans

Mackinder, B. et al. (2001) Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(5)

Description of the genus

Climbers or lianes. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate. Inflorescences axillary. Flowers showy, ranging from white to purple, red to almost black or greenish-yellow. Calyx 4-5-lobed, the upper 2 lobes forming a lip Standard rounded, much shorter than the other petals. 5 larger anthers alternate with 5 short ones. Pods covered with irritant hairs (apart from some cultivated varieties of Mucuna pruriens), usually dehiscent.

Worldwide: c. 100 species in the tropics and subtropics

Malawi: 8 taxa.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
coriacea Baker subsp. coriacea N,C,S
coriacea Baker subsp. irritans (Burtt Davy) Verdc.C,SDescription, Image
ferox Verdc.NDescription
glabrialata (Hauman) Verdc. N,S
poggei Taub. var. pesa (De Wild.) Verdc.N,C,SDescription, Image
pruriens (L.) DC. var. pruriens N,C,SImage
pruriens (L.) DC. var. utilis (Wight) Burck?
stans Welw. ex BakerN,C

Other sources of information about Mucuna:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: Mucuna
Flora of Zambia: Mucuna
Flora of Zimbabwe: Mucuna

External websites:

ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Mucuna
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Mucuna
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Mucuna
Wikipedia: Mucuna
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Mucuna
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Mucuna

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-23

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2023). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Mucuna.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=766, retrieved 26 March 2023

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