Bureaucrat, administrator, widgeteditor
146,870
edits
Changes
no edit summary
| Medicinal= 2
}}
<big>''[[Mucuna gigantea]]'' (Willd.) DC.</big>
__NOTOC__
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Mucuna gigantea'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Prodr. 2: 405 (1825).
== Synonyms ==
*''Mucuna quadrialata'' Baker (1871), *''Mucuna longipedicellata'' Hauman (1955).
== Vernacular names ==
*Sea bean, burny bean (En). *Liane cadoque, liane caimancaïman, mort aux rats (Fr). *Mtera (Sw).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
== Description ==
*Large liana up to 30(–80) m long; stems initially covered with orange-brown bristle hairs, glabrescent. *Leaves alternate, 3-foliolate; stipules 3–5 mm × 1 mm, deciduous; petiole 4–15 cm long, rachis 1.5–3.5 cm long; stipels needle-shaped, 2–3 mm long, persistent; petiolules c. 5 mm long; leaflets ovate or elliptical, 4–15 cm × 2–9 cm, the lateral ones oblique, acuminate and markedly apiculate at apex, rounded at base, thinly appressed hairy when young, soon glabrescent. *Inflorescence an axillary, pendulous false umbel 10–35 cm long, with flowers on short lateral branchlets 5–10 mm long; peduncle 4–22(–30) cm long. *Flowers bisexual, papilionaceous; pedicel 1–2.5 cm long; calyx cup-shaped, 10–13 mm long, 2-lipped, covered with fine grey hairs and long deciduous orange-brown bristle hairs, tube 7–11 mm long, lobes 2–3 mm long, the upper lip somewhat emarginate; corolla pale creamy-green, white or pale lilac, standard (2–)2.5–3.5 cm × (1.5–)2–2.5 cm, round, with sparse orange-brown bristle hairs, wings and keel (3–)3.5–4.5 cm long; stamens 10, 9 united and 1 free; ovary superior, 1-celled, style long, filiform, stigma small and terminal. *Fruit a stiped pod, oblong or oblong-elliptical, 7–15 cm × 3–5.5(–6.5) cm × 1–2 cm, each margin with 2 wings, densely covered with orange-brown bristle hairs at first, becoming glabrous at maturity, 1–4(–6)-seeded. *Seeds 2.5–3 cm × 2–3 cm × 1–1.5 cm, discoid, dark brown or densely mottled with rust brown or black, smooth, hilum extending around the seed-margin for c. three-quarters of the circumference. *Seedling with hypogeal germination; first leaves scale-like or simple. == Other botanical information ==
''Mucuna'' belongs to the tribe ''Phaseoleae'' and comprises about 100 species distributed pantropically. In tropical Africa about 10 species are present. Several subspecies have been distinguished within ''Mucuna gigantea'', with subsp. ''quadrialata'' (Baker) Verdc. in Africa. However, ''Mucuna gigantea'' is very variable throughout its range and it seems not possible to retain subsp. ''quadrialata''.
Initial growth of ''Mucuna gigantea'' is rapid: seedlings may attain a height of more than 1 m in 3 weeks. In Madagascar it flowers during the dry season. The flowers are much visited by humming-birds. The seeds are dispersed by sea currents. All green plant parts, including the flowers, become black when bruised or dried.
== Ecology ==
''Mucuna gigantea'' is essentially a littoral species found around the Indian Ocean, but in tropical Africa it also occurs inland. It is found in coastal scrub, on riverbanks, and near water in woodland and forest edges, up to 1800 m altitude.
== Management ==
== Author(s) ==
* M. Brink , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Brink, M., 2006. '''Mucuna gigantea''' (Willd.) DC. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Brink, M. & Belay, G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
