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

Zimbabwe: 6 taxa.

Mucuna coriacea subsp. irritans

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

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
coriacea Baker subsp. coriacea E
coriacea Baker subsp. irritans (Burtt Davy) Verdc.N,C,E,SDescription, Image
ferox Verdc.EDescription
poggei Taub. var. pesa (De Wild.) Verdc.EDescription, Image
pruriens (L.) DC. var. pruriens N,EImage
pruriens (L.) DC. var. utilis (Wight) BurckC

Other sources of information about Mucuna:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Mucuna
Flora of Malawi: Mucuna
Flora of Mozambique: Mucuna
Flora of Zambia: Mucuna

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Mucuna
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Mucuna
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Mucuna
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Mucuna
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Mucuna
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Mucuna
JSTOR Plant Science: Mucuna
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Mucuna
Plants of the World Online: Mucuna
Tropicos: Mucuna
Wikipedia: Mucuna

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Mucuna.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=766, retrieved 28 March 2024

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