PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 205 



J. Mucuna urens (L.) DC. 



(Urban, 303.) 



Stem woody, slender, wide climbing; leaflets 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long, 7.5 to 8 cm. wide, 

 calyx broadly campanulate, 1.5 to 2 cm. deep; corolla with wings and keel 5 cm. or 

 mure long, standard much shorter; pod 10 to 20 cm. long, 3.5 to 4 cm. wide, armed 

 with stinging bristles. 



Near Lares in the coffee plantations at Juncal; near Mayaguez; near Agnada, in 

 thickets at Rosario. Cuba (Richard), Jamaica, Cayman (Fawcett), Haiti, Guade- 

 loupe, Martinique, Tobago. Tropical America, tropical West Africa. 



Mucuna urens is readily distinguished from M. pruriens by its yellow flowers and 

 its long pod (over 20 cm.) which has close, broad, irregular, coriaceous, undulate lamel- 

 lations. The seeds are very large and have a broad black band. When polished 

 they are often used for ornaments. 



The Mucuna species can be recommended in the Tropics as ornamental plants, but 

 M. urens and M. pruriens must be touched with care on account of the hairs of the 

 pods, which have a most irritating effect upon the skin. 



Local names, ojo de buey, matos, matos del monte. 



2. Mucuna pruriens (L. ) D( '. 



(Urban, 303.) 



Stems herbaceous, wide-climbing; leaflets 8 to 14 cm. long, 5 to 7 cm. wide; flowers 

 dark violet; calyx about 1 cm. deep; corolla 3 to 3.5 cm. deep, the standard half as long 

 as the wings; pod 5 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 1.75 cm. wide, densely clothed with brown 

 silky bristles. 



Near Aguas Buenas on the brook near the town; near Juncos, at Valenziano Arriba 

 climbing on high trees; near Guayama, in mountain woods beyond Guamani; near 

 Coamo, in the valley of El Fuerte River; near Penuelas, on the bank of the river 

 toward Tallaboa Alta; near Cabo Rojo in thickets; near Mayaguez, at Algarrobo; near 

 Rincon in thickets on the shore. Cuba (Grisebach), Jamaica, Cayman (Hitchcock), 

 Haiti, St. Thomas (Eggers), St. Croix (do.), St. John (do.), Guadeloupe, Martinique, 

 St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago. Cosmopolitan in the Tropics. 



Mucuna pruriens differs markedly from M. urens in that it has purple flowers and a 

 much smaller, longitudinally ribbed pod. 



The root and the seeds have long been valued in East Indian medicine, and in the 

 West Indies and in Europe the hairs were formerly considerably used medicinally. 

 The young tender pods are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. 



Local name, pica-pica (Urban); cowhage or cowitch (Cook and Collins). 



3. Mucuna altissima (Jacq.) DC. 



(Urban, 304.) 



Twining; leaflets glabrous, ovate or oval-oblong, 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long, 2.5 to <i cm. 

 wide, membranous; petiole slender, 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long; peduncle 30 to 120 cm. long, 

 racemes short; calyx sericeous, 4-toothed; the three superior teeth small or obso- 

 lete, the inferior longer; flowers dark violet or pale flesh-colored; corolla .'!.<> cm. long; 

 standard ovate-oblong, nearly as long as the wings; beak of the keel cartilaginous. 

 bluntish, equaling the wings; legume 15 cm. long, 3.7 cm. broad below its pointed top. 

 with numerous, transverse, convex lines, compressed, spathulate, oblong, hirsute, 

 callous on the margins; seeds orbicular, compressed (1.6 to 2 em. in diameter), almost 

 wholly surrounded by the raphe. 



