Vigna is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012). Section Ceratotropis of subgenus Ceratotropis of Vigna (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new species from northern Western Ghats. Rheedea 22(1), 20-27. It includes some well-known cultivated species, including many types of beans. Some members of the genus were previously classified in Phaseolus. According to Hortus Third, Vigna differs from Phaseolus in biochemistry and pollen structure, and in the details of the style and stipules.
Vigna is also commonly confused with the genus Dolichos, but the two differ in stigma structure.
Vigna are herbs or occasionally subshrubs. The leaves are pinnate, divided into 3 leaflets. The inflorescence is a raceme of yellow, blue, or purple pea flowers. The fruit is a legume pod of varying shapes containing seeds.Vigna. Flora of China.
Familiar food species include the adzuki bean (V. angularis), the black gram (V. mungo), the cowpea (V. unguiculata, including the variety known as the black-eyed pea), and the mung bean (V. radiata). Each of these may be used as a whole bean, a bean paste, or as bean sprouts.
The genus is named after Domenico Vigna, a seventeenth-century Italian botanist and director of the Orto botanico di Pisa.Charters, M. Plant Names T-Z. The Eponym Dictionary of Southern African Plants.
Uses Root tubers of Vigna species have traditionally been used as food by the Indigenous Peoples of the Northern Territory of Australia.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae. Retrieved 10 June 2018
Selected species
The genus Vigna contains at least 90 species, including:
Subgenus Ceratotropis Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Maréchal—moth bean, mat bean, Turkish gram Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H. Ohashi—adzuki bean, red bean Vigna angularis var. angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H. Ohashi Vigna angularis var. nipponensis (Ohwi) Ohwi & H. Ohashi Vigna glabrescens Maréchal et al. Vigna grandiflora (Prain) Tateishi & Maxted Vigna hirtella Ridley Vigna minima (Roxb.) Ohwi & H. Ohashi Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper—black gram, black lentil, white lentil, urd-bean, urad bean Vigna mungo var. silvestris Lukoki, Maréchal & Otoul Vigna nakashimae (Ohwi) Ohwi & H. Ohashi Vigna nepalensis Tateishi & Maxted Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek—mung bean, green gram, golden gram, mash bean, green soy, celera-bean, Jerusalem-pea Vigna radiata var. radiata (L.) Wilczek Vigna radiata var. sublobata (Roxb.) Verdc. Vigna reflexopilosa Hayata—Creole-bean Vigna reflexopilosa var. reflexopilosa Hayata Vigna reflexopilosa var. glabra Tomooka & Maxted Vigna riukiuensis (Ohwi) Ohwi & H. Ohashi Vigna sahyadriana Aitawade, K.V.Bhat & S.R.Yadav Vigna stipulacea Kuntze Vigna subramaniana (Babu ex Raizada) M. Sharma Vigna tenuicaulis N. Tomooka & Maxted Vigna trilobata (L.) Verdc.—jungle mat bean, jungli-bean, African gram, three-lobe-leaved cowpea Vigna trinervia (Heyne ex Wall.) Tateishi & Maxted Vigna umbellata (Thunb.) Ohwi & H. Ohashi—ricebean, red bean, climbing mountain-bean, mambi bean, Oriental-bean
Subgenus Haydonia Vigna monophylla Taub. Vigna nigritia Hook. f. Vigna schimperi Baker Vigna triphylla (R. Wilczek) Verdc.
Subgenus Lasiospron Vigna diffusa (Scott-Elliot) A. Delgado & Verdc. Vigna juruana (Harms) Verdc. Vigna lasiocarpa (Mart. ex Benth.) Verdc. Vigna longifolia (Benth.) Verdc. Vigna schottii (Bentham) A. Delgado & Verdc. Vigna trichocarpa (C. Wright ex Sauvalle) A. Delgado Vigna vexillata (L.) A. Rich.—zombi pea, wild cowpea Vigna vexillata var. angustifolia Vigna vexillata var. youngiana
Subgenus Vigna Vigna ambacensis Welw. ex Bak. Vigna angivensis Baker Vigna filicaulis Hepper Vigna friesiorum Harms Vigna gazensis Baker f. Vigna hosei (Craib) Backer—Sarowak/Sarawak bean Vigna luteola (Jacq.) Benth.—Dalrymple vigna Vigna membranacea A. Rich. Vigna membranacea subsp. caesia (Chiov.) Verdc. Vigna membranacea subsp. membranacea A. Rich. Vigna monantha Thulin Vigna racemosa (G. Don) Hutch. & Dalziel Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.—Bambara groundnut, Congo goober, hog-peanut, jugo bean, njugumawe (Swahili) (sometimes separated in Voandzeia) Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.—cowpea, crowder pea, Southern pea, Reeve's-pea, snake-bean Vigna unguiculata subsp. cylindrica—catjang Vigna unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana—wild cowpea, African cowpea, Ethiopian cowpea Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis—yardlong bean, long-podded cowpea, asparagus bean, Chinese long bean, pea-bean Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata—black-eyed pea, black-eyed bean
Incertae sedis
Vigna comosa Vigna dalzelliana Vigna debilis Fourc. Vigna decipiens Vigna dinteri Harms Vigna dolichoides Baker in Hooker f.
Vigna frutescens
Vigna gracilis
Vigna kirkii Vigna lanceolata—pencil yam, Maloga-bean, parsnip-bean, merne arlatyeye (Arrernte)
Vigna lobata (Willd.) Endl. Vigna lobatifolia Vigna marina (Burm.f.) Merr.—dune-bean, notched cowpea, sea-bean, mohihihi, nanea (Hawaiian)
Vigna multiflora Vigna nervosa Vigna oblongifolia Vigna owahuensis Vogel—Oahu cowpea Vigna parkeri—creeping vigna
Vigna pilosa
References
External links