148 FOOD-GRAINS OF INDIA. 



THE MUNG-BEAN (includes BLACK GRAM and GREEN GRAM). 



Phaseolus M^lngo. 



Synonyms Phaseolus Mungo (Roxb.) ; P. Max (Roxb.) ; P. aureus (Ham.). 

 Hind. Dord, Mung, Thikirf, Mug. Beng. Mash-kulay, Miig. Punjab Mash, 



Urd. Madras Pessalu. 

 Sanskrit Mudga, Masha. 



This species of Phaseolus includes a number of forms to 

 several of which specific rank has been accorded by some 

 botanists ; a typical form and 3 varieties are now recognised. 

 The type includes P. Max (Roxb.), with black seeds, P. aureus 

 (Ham.), with yellow seeds, and the green-seeded P. Mungo of 

 Roxburgh. The typical form has sub-erect or flexuose stems, 

 which with the pods are densely hairy. The varieties are : 



Var. i, glaber (Roxb.), having the habit of the type but with 

 glabrous stems, leaves, and pods. It is the P. glabrescens of 

 Steudel. 



Var. 2, wightianus (Grah.), having elongated slender stems. 

 It is P. Wightii (W. & A.), and P. subvolubilis (Ham.). 



Var. 3, radiatus (L.), having elongated twining stems densely 

 clothed. It is identical with P. Roxburghii (W. & A.), and P. 

 setulosus (Dalz.), and near the species P. trinervius (Heyne), 

 which may after all be a fourth form of Phaseolus Mungo. 



The pod of this species is \y z to 2^ inches long, by \ to \ 

 inch broad; it contains 10 to 15 seeds, and is slightly recurved. 

 The seeds vary much in colour and a good deal in size ; they 

 are sometimes dull, sometimes shining. 



The type form is wild, and universally cultivated, ascending 

 to 6,000 feet in the North- West Himalaya. The var. radiatus 

 exists in two forms : one, having large blackish seeds, ripens 

 (according to Mr. Duthie) in the North-West Provinces and 

 Oudh, in September ; the small green-seeded sort is gathered 

 in October and November. According to the same authority 

 this variety prefers stiff soils, while the typical form is generally 

 grown on light sands. The yield is about 5 maunds per acre. 



