231 



The Natives (2° N. lat. Trop. Africa) dry the leaves like tobacco 

 leaf, and eat them as a vegetable (Grant, Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 xxix. p. 60). 



Known principally under cultivation but very doubtfully distinct 

 from V. luteola (Fl. Trop. Afr. 1. c). 



Vigna triloba, Walp. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 204. 



Katagum ; Mozambique ; The Cape and other parts of Africa. 



Common cultivated bean of the fields, Katagum (Dalziel. 

 Herb. Kew). 



Found at an altitude of 2000 to 3000 ft. between Mpata and 

 commencement of Tanganyika Plateau (Whyte, Herb. Kew). 



VOANDZEIA, Thouars. 



Voandzeia Poissoni, A. Chev. Comptes Rendus, cli. 1910, p. 85. 



Tap root with slender rootlets sometimes tubercled. Main stem 

 from 2-3| in. long, procumbent, with numerous short slender 

 stolons, spreading on the soil or partly buried in it, with short 

 internodes and leaves mostly reduced to stipules. Petioles 2%-H 

 in. long, slender, firm, vertical, swollen at the base, pubescent, 

 channelled. Leaflets petiolate, membranous, more or less rounded 

 at both ends, apex often apiculate, 3-nerved, glabrous, or with finely 

 ciliate margin when young ; terminal leaflet 2|-3 in. long, H-2 in. 

 broad ; petiolule pubescent, bearing two small linear stipels ; lateral 

 leaflets 1^-2| in. broad, petiolules with only a single stipel ; 

 stipules oval-oblong entire from 2 to 3 lin. long, pubescent 

 adpressed. Flowers single or paired. Calyx tube short, lobes linear- 

 filiform nearly equal in length to the corolla. Corolla oblong, 4-5 

 lin. long, 1-^-2 lin. broad, greenish-white, the apex of the standard 

 violet-blue. Fruits buried, borne on slender stems f in.-l in. long, 

 discoid or oblong-falciform, \-\ in. long, \-\ in. broad, valves 

 slender, coriaceous, wrinkled on the outside, containing one or two 

 seeds 3-3^ lin. long, 2^ lin. in diameter, pods one or two seeded. 



There are several varieties characterized by the colour of the seeds, 

 more often white, sometimes black, red or mottled (Chevalier, I.e.). 



The"Bambarra Ground Nut" {Voandzeia snbterranea) differs 

 from this species chiefly in having yellow flowers, nearly spherical 

 pods, usually containing a single seed, about \ in. long and § in. broad. 



Vernac. names.— Nadou, Sui, Doi or Dohi (Dahomey, Chevalier). 



Dahomey ; Yoruba. 



The beans are used like those of Haricot. In Dahomey the chiefs 

 or heads of families only eat this bean, and it is forbidden to the 

 women of the country. Chevalier recommends its cultivation as a 

 food for Europeans in all the French West African Colonies. 



The seeds are sown in sandy soil towards the middle of the rainy 

 season (May and June) and the crop is harvested 4 or 5 months later. 

 The plant is only known under cultivation, but it reproduces itself 

 for some years in fields where it has once been sown. 



Rff~" Sur une nouvelle Legumineuse a fruits souterrains 

 cultivee dans le Moyen-Dahomey {Voandzeia Poissoni)" Chevalier, 

 in Comptes Rendus, cli. 1910, pp. 84-86. 



Voandzeia subterranea, Thouars ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 207. 

 III.— Engl. & Pranfl, Pflan. iii. pi 3, f. 135 ; Tropenfl. 1899, 

 p. 169 ; Engl. Pflan. Ost Afr. t. 22. 



