Vigna

Vigna
Snail Bean (Vigna caracalla)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Subclass:	Rosidae
(unranked):	Eurosids I
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Phaseoleae
Genus:	Vigna Savi
Species
Numerous, see text
Synonyms
Voandzeia

The genus Vigna is in the plant family Fabaceae. The genus is named after Dominico Vigna, an Italian botanist of the 17th century. They include some well-known and other less well-known beans formerly — and sometimes still, especially in non-scholarly sources — included in the genus Phaseolus. Common names in this genus reflect its mixed taxonomic history: some are referred to as "peas" and others as "beans". The Urad Bean (V. mungo) is sometimes called a "lentil", while germinating Mung Bean (V. radiata) are often sold as bean sprouts similar to those of the Soybean (Glycine max).

According to Hortus Third, Vigna differs from Phaseolus in details of the pollen and biochemistry, the thickened part of the style being less strong, and stipules that are often appendaged.

Uses and ecology

Many Vigna species are cultivated for food. Indeed, the genus contains most of the important legumes in subtropical and tropical regions; Vigna can be considered the equivalent of the Phaseolus beans predominant in temperate climates, though if anything even more important. Their foliage is also suitable as livestock fodder, and by fixing nitrogen from the air, they improve the soil and are often seen in intercropping with cereals such as millets. It has even turned out that mashed cowpea seeds can be used as coagulants in solar water disinfection^[1]. Such is the importance of Vigna in tropical agriculture that for example the Ganda clan eMpindi ("The Cowpeas") takes its totemic name from V. unguiculata, not from an animal or some attribute reflecting strength or vigour.

Jungle Mat Bean (Vigna trilobata) flower pollinated by Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus), Hyderabad, India.

The Cowpea was established as a model organism in plant genetics by J. B. S. Haldane, and eventually became an important object of study in molecular biology. Cowpea proteins that have been studied include for example a germination-related gamma thionin, inositol 4-methyltransferase and RNA uridylyltransferase.

Vigna species are used as food plants by the caterpillare of some Lepidoptera species, including the Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum) and the Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus). Mexican Bean Beetle (Epilachna varivestis) larvae also feed on Vigna species. A significant parasitic plant affecting the Cowpea is Cowpea Witchweed (Striga gesnerioides), an unusual member of the genus Striga as these plants typically parasitize grasses. And finally, there are some plant viruses that can be devastating to Vigna cultures, such as the Alternanthera mosaic virus, Groundnut crinkle virus and White clover mosaic virus, which are all Flexiviridae, and the Vigna sinensis mosaic virus, which is a rhabdovirus.

Selected species

Vigna marina

Wondering Cowpea (Vigna speciosa) herbarium specimen

• Vigna aconitifolia — Moth Bean, Mat Bean, Turkish Gram
• Vigna angularis — Azuki Bean, "red bean"
• Vigna caracalla — Snail Bean, Corkscrew Vine, Snail Vine
• Vigna debilis Fourc.
• Vigna dinteri Harms
• Vigna lanceolata — Pencil Yam, merne arlatyeye (Arrernte)
  • Vigna lanceolata var. filiformis
  • Vigna lanceolata var. lanceolata
  • Vigna lanceolata var. latifolia
• Vigna luteola
• Vigna marina (Burm.f.) Merr.
• Vigna maritima
• Vigna mungo — Urad Bean, Black Matpe Bean, Black Gram, White Lentil, "black lentil"
• Vigna o-wahuensis Vogel — Hawaii Wild Bean
• Vigna parkeri
• Vigna radiata — Mung Bean, Green Gram, Golden Gram, Mash Bean, Green Soy
• Vigna speciosa (Kunth) Verdc. — Wondering Cowpea
• Vigna subterranea — Bambara Groundnut, Jugo Bean, njugumawe (Swahili) (sometimes separated in Voandzeia)
• Vigna trilobata (L.) Verdc. — Jungle Mat Bean, African Gram, Three-lobe-leaved Cowpea
• Vigna umbellata — Ricebean, "red bean"
• Vigna unguiculata — Cowpea, Crowder Pea, Southern Pea
  • Vigna unguiculata ssp. cylindrica — Catjang
  • Vigna unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana — Wild Cowpea, African Cowpea, Ethiopian Cowpea
  • Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis — Yardlong Bean, Long-podded Cowpea, Asparagus Bean, Snake Bean, Chinese Long Bean
  • Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata — Black-eyed Pea, Black-eyed Bean
• Vigna vexillata (L.) A.Rich. — Zombi Pea
  • Vigna vexillata var. angustifolia
  • Vigna vexillata var. youngiana

Formerly placed here was for example the Hyacinth Bean (Lablab purpureus), as Vigna aristata.

See also

• Stanford Blade

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vigna

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
• Crop Wild Relatives Gap Analysis Portal reliable information source on where and what to conserve ex-situ, regarding Vigna genepool
• ITIS Standard Report Page: Vigna
• GRIN-CA Taxonomy for Vigna