Velvet Bean
Mucuna pruriens var. pruriens
Also known as Common Cow Itch, Cowhage
About Velvet Bean
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include monkey tamarind, velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean. The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It also produces many medium-sized red swollen bumps on the skin with the itching. It has agricultural and horticultural value, and is used in herbalism.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Mucuna pruriens var. pruriens
- Genus
- Mucuna
- Family
- FABACEAE
- Habit
- Liana
- Habitat
- In secondary forests at lower altitudes and in plains
- Native to
- India
- Distribution
- Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia
- Flowering & fruiting
- September-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- Kiwach
- Nepali
- काउसे सिमी Kaause Simee
- Bengali
- Akolchi
- Telugu
- Pilliadugu
- Kannada
- ನಸುಗುನ್ನಿ Nasugunni, ನೊಸಗೊನ್ನೆ Nosagonne, ನಾಯಿಸೊಣಗುಬಳ್ಳಿ Nayisonanguballi
- Malayalam
- Naicorna
- Marathi
- खाज कुइरी Khaj-kuiri
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Velvet Bean belongs to the Fabaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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