Phaseolus.] LEGVMINOSJE. 225 



capitate, on pedtmcles which are usually longer than the leaves ; Irac- 

 teoles oYSite, pedicels very short. Flowers small, yellow. Calycc campan- 

 ulate, deltoid. Pod 1-2 in., suhcylindrical, glahrous, recurved, 6-12^ 

 seeded. 

 Fairly common within the area, and often on the edges of cultivated 

 ground and near river-hanks. Disteib. On the Himalaya, up to 

 7,000 ft. and southward to Ceylon ; also in Burma, the Malay Islands, 

 Afghanistan, Abyssinia and Nubia. In India it is sometimes cultivated 

 as a mixed crop for fodder purposes, and by the poorer classes of people 

 for its grain. 



4. P. aconitifolius, Jacq. Ols. Bot. Hi. 2, t. 52 ; Boxh. Fl. Ind. Hi, 299 ; 

 W. 4- A. Prod. 247; Boyle III. 190 ; F. B. I. ii, 202; F. ^ G. Crops I, 41, t. 

 xi ; DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. 276 ; Watt F.D.—Yevn. Moth. 



Stems slender, suberect or diffuse, slightly hairy. Stipules smsill, narrow- 

 ly lanceolate. Leaflets deeply 3-lobed, the central lobe liguJate. Ba- 

 cemes capitate, pedtmcles hairy ; hracteoles linear, twice as long as the 

 calyx, their setaceous ciliated tips protruding beyond the buds. Flow' 

 ers minute. Pods stouter than those of the preceding, and with larger 



Largely grown within the area as a rainy-season crop ; also throughout 

 India, from the Himalaya to Ceylon. In the Upper Gangetic Plain it is 

 usually sown on very poor land either by itself, or along with hajra 

 (Pennisetum typhoideum). The grain is chiefly used as a fattening 

 food for cattle and horses, and the whole plant is regarded as a valuable 

 kind of fodder. 



5. P. radiatus, Linn. Sp. PI. 725 ; Prain in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. LXVI, 

 422. P. Mungo, Boxh. FL Ind. Hi, 292 {not of Linn.) ; W. & A. Prod. 246; 

 Boyle in. 190; F. B. I. ii, 203; F. Sf G. Crops I, 37, t. ix ; DC. L'Orig. PI. 

 Cult. 277. Watt E.D. -Yexu Mung. (Green gram). 



A much-branched suberect annual, 1-2 ft. high, clothed with long decidu- 

 ous silky hairs. Stipules |--| in., attached near the base. Leaves dark- 

 green ; Zea/Zeis 2-4 in. long, roundish, acute or subobtuse, deltoid or 

 rounded at the base, with appres sed pubescence on both sides. Raceme,s 

 capitate, shortly peduncled. Flowers about i in. long, yellow. Pods ]•!- 

 2^ in. long, somewhat spreading, clothed with long silky hairs. Seeds 

 rather small, 10-15, usually green. 



Mung is cultivated as a rainy-season crop in all parts of the area. It is 

 also extensively grown all over India, and throughout the tropics of the 

 Old World. There are three distinct varieties, which are distinguished 

 by the colour of their seeds. Harri mung, or the green-seeded kind, is the 

 one most commonly grown in the Upper Gangetic Plain, and being re- 

 garded as a native of India, it has acquired the name of var. typica. 

 Sona mung, which has yellow seeds, is var. aurea (P. aureus, Eoxb. Fi. 

 Ind. iii, 297). It is a doubtful native of this coiintry. The third 

 variety, grandis, with black §eeds, is the P. Max. of Eoxb. (Ic. 295), and 



