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

Zambia: 8 taxa.

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

SpeciesFZ divisionsProvincesContent
coriacea Baker subsp. coriacea EE
coriacea Baker subsp. irritans (Burtt Davy) Verdc.Description, Image
glabrialata (Hauman) Verdc. N,W,C,E,SCb,C,Lk
poggei Taub. var. pesa (De Wild.) Verdc.NMcDescription, Image
poggei Taub. var. poggei N,WNw,NImage
pruriens (L.) DC. var. pruriens B,N,C,SNw,N,Lk,SImage
pruriens (L.) DC. var. utilis (Wight) BurckE,S
stans Welw. ex BakerN,W,CNw,Lp,Mc,CImage

Other sources of information about Mucuna:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Mucuna
Flora of Malawi: Mucuna
Flora of Mozambique: Mucuna
Flora of Zimbabwe: 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: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Genus page: Mucuna.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=766, retrieved 28 March 2024

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