''Vigna'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the legume family,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

, 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

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s. Some are former members of the genus ''

Phaseolus ''Phaseolus'' (bean, wild bean) is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica. It is one of the most economically importan ...

''. According to ''Hortus Third'', ''Vigna'' differs from ''Phaseolus'' in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

structure, and in details of the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

and

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s. ''Vigna'' is also commonly confused with the genus '' Dolichos'', but the two differ in stigma structure. ''Vigna'' are herbs or occasionally

subshrubs A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody plant, woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is ofte ...

. The leaves are pinnate, divided into 3 leaflets. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

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 ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an Annual plant, annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East A ...

(''V. angularis''), the black gram (''V. mungo''), the

cowpea The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus '' Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inpu ...

(''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 sprout Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth. In the field of nutrition, the term signifies ...

s. The genus is named after Domenico Vigna, a seventeenth-century Italian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and director of the Orto botanico di Pisa.

Uses

Root tubers of ''Vigna'' species have traditionally been used as food by the

Indigenous Peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora onlin
''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 The black gram or urad bean (''Vigna mungo'') is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the genus ''Phaseolus'' to '' Vigna''. The product sold as black gram is usually the whole urad bean, wh ...

'' (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 The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the Fabaceae, legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-E ...

'' (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 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 The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an Annual plant, annual Herbaceous plant, herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the Semi-arid climate, semiarid regions a ...

'' (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 or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

*'' 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

{{Authority control Fabaceae genera Pantropical flora