Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.

Global description

Mucuna pruriens is a climbing herbaceous plant, annual or perennial, short-lived, reaching 18 m long. The ends of the branches, the leaves on their 2 sides and calyx are covered with a silvery white applied pubescence . The leaves are alternate, compound trifoliate, with pointed mucronate leaflets at the end, unequal, the central oval, the sides with highly asymmetrical base. Flowers are papilionaceae type, dark purple in color, grouped by 2 or 3 in axillary inflorescence and is 50 cm long. The fruit is an elongated pod, covered with dense pubescence of very stinging yellow hairs. It contains 5 to 8 oblong ellipsoidal seeds whose color varies from white to black.
 
General habit

Climbing and twining herbaceous plant, annual or perennial with short life, which can reach 18 m long.
 
Underground system

The plant has a taproot system.
 
Stem

The stem is cylindrical, full, more or less smooth, but the ends of the branches are covered with silvery white applied hairs.
 
Leaf

The leaves are alternate, compound trifoliate. The petiole, 8 to 15 cm long, is thickened at the base. The leaflets are oval, rhombic, elliptic or obovate, with elongated mucronate apex. The middle leaflet has an obtuse base; the lateral leaflets have a highly asymmetrical base. The leaflets are 5 to 20 cm long and 3.5 to 17 cm wide. They are covered on the two sides with a pubescence of white applied hairs of variable density, but denser on the underside.
 
Inflorescence

The inflorescence is axillary and measures 5 to 50 cm long. The rachis is covered with a dense silvery pubescence. Flowers are of papilionaceae type, numerous, grouped by 2 or 3 on the rachis or on short lateral protuberances.
 
Flower

The flower is carried by a stalk of 1.5 to 6 mm long. The calyx is covered with a silvery pubescence, from which some longer bristles often emerges, consisting of a tube of 5 to 7 mm long, extended by the lobes, 3 to 9 mm long (the upper two fused, the bottom longer than the upper). The corolla is dark purple. The standard is oval, 1.5 to 2.2 cm long, and is blackish purple to pale lilac or white. The keel, 2.5 to 3.7 cm long, is narrow, sharply bent towards the top. The wings are slightly shorter than the keel.
 
Fruit

The fruit is a pod, oblong, curved at the end, ribbed longitudinally. It measures 4 to 10 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. It is covered with dense pubescence of very stinging golden yellow hair. It contains 5 to 8 seeds.
 
Seed

The seed is oblong-ellipsoid, 10 to 19 mm long, 7.5 to 13 mm wide and 4 to 6.5 mm in diameter, white, brown speckled with black pink or black. The hilum is oblong, and measures 4 mm long.

Origin

Mucuna pruriens is native to the old tropical world (Africa, India, Asia).

Worldwide distribution

This species is now pantropical.

https://www.gbif.org/fr/species/2951499