Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
significantly the increase of blood pressure induced by adrenaline dosed at 4.76 × 10
−4
mg/kg from
89.3% ± 2.19% to 1.19% ± 0.59%.
790
MUCUNA PRURIENS
Botanical Name —
Mucuna pruriens
( L.) DC.
Synonyms —
Carpopogon pruriens
(L.) Roxb.,
Dolichos pruriens
L.,
Mucuna aterrima
(Piper
& Tracy) Merr.,
Mucuna axillaris
Baker,
Mucuna cochinchiniensis
(Lour.) A. Chev.,
Mucuna nivea
(Roxb.) Wight & Arn.,
Mucuna prurita
(L.) Hook.,
Stizolobium pruritum
(Wight) Piper, plus 5 others
Related Species —
Mucuna pruriens
var.
hirsuta
(Wight & Arn.) Wilmot-Dear,
Mucuna pru-
riens
var.
pruriens
(L.) DC.,
Mucuna pruriens
var.
utilis
(Wall. ex Wight) L.H. Bailey
Family —
Leguminosae
Common Names —
Lacuna bean, bengal velvet bean, black velvet bean, buffalo bean, hell fire
bean, itchy bean
African Names —
Igala (Nigeria): inyelekpe;
Igbo (Nigeria): ukpo; Kiswahili: upupu; Malawi:
chitedze; Yoruba: yerepe or warapa; Madagascar: aga
Description —
The plant consists of three related species, noted for the extreme itchiness they
produce on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. They differ signifi-
cantly in their morphological characteristics. Detailed descriptions of the three species are avail-
able in PROTA.
1140
The subject species,
Mucuna pruriens
( L.) DC,
according to the description in
Wikipedia,
1138
is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 m in length. The
young plant is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely
free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus shaped, or widely ovate. The
sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved, and the tips are pointy. In young plants, both sides of
the leaves have hairs. The stems of the leaflets are 2 to 3 mm long. Additional adjacent leaves are
present and are about 5 mm long.
The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are 15 to 32 cm long and have
2 or 3 or many flowers. The accompanying leaves are about 12.5 mm long; the flower stand axes
are from 2.5 to 5 mm. The bell is 7.5 to 9 mm long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the same
length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is 1.5 mm long. The wings are 2.5 to
