ViGNA.] LEGUMINOSM. 227 



Dehra Dnn and Siwalik range. Distbib. Kumaon up to 4,000 ft., Behar 

 Mt. Abu, Konkan and south to Oeylon ; also in Arracan. Closely 

 allied to the two preceding- ; and as Dr. Prain suggests, it may represent 

 the wild stock fro-n which both of these cultivated plants were 

 originally derived. The grain is nutritious, and is said to be used to 

 a large exteut by the people of the Deccan iu times of famine. 



Var. setulosa, Prain. in, Jour/i. As. 8oc. Beag. Ic. P. setulosus, Balz. 

 in Kew Journ.ii, 33 ; F. B. I I.e. (under P. Mungo var. radiatus). 

 jFio'oerg smaller : hairs on stems and pods grey —Bundelkhand (Edge- 

 worth). Distbib. Konkan and W. Deccan. 



15. VIGNA, Savi., Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 204. 



Twining herbs or shrubs with pinnately 3-follolate stipellate leaves 

 Flowers in copious axillary racemes ; bracts small, deciduous ; hrac- 

 teoles conspicuous. Calyx campanulate ; teeth short or long, the 

 upper often connate Corolla much exserted ; Jceel truncate or pro- 

 longed into a beak, not spirally twisted. Stamens 2-adelphous, anthers 

 uniform. Ovary sessile, many-ovuled ; .'ityle long, filiform, bearded 

 along the inner face below the oblique stigma. Pod linear, subterete, 

 subseptate.— Species 40 or 50, mostly tropical. 



Keel not beaked 1. Y. Qatiang, 



Keel prolonged into a distinct beak . . , 2. V. vexillata. 



1. V. Catiang, Walp. in Linncea xiii, 533 ; F. B. I. ii, 205; F. Sf O, 

 Crops ii, 12, t.t XXIX ^ XXX. Dolichos Catiang, Linn. ; Eoxh. Fl. Ind. 

 Hi, 303 ; Royle IU. 190. D. sinensis, Linnj Boxb. I. c. 302; W. Sf A. Prod. 

 250. Vern. Labia, rawds, rausa, sonta. 



A subereet or twining annual, with glabrous stems. Stipules J-| in 

 attached above the base, ovate-lanceolate, persistent. Leaflets 3-6 in" 

 long, entire or slightly lobed, broadly or narrowly ovate, the lateral ones 

 obliquely so. Ftoivers few, in subcapitatei' racemes ; pediiacles often 

 exceeding the leaves ; bracts attached above the base, deciduous. Qalyx 

 under ^ in., deltoid-cuspidate. Corolla yellow or reddish, twice the 

 calyx. Pod 4i-'l4! in. long, slightly depressed between the seeds 



liobia is extensively cultivated throughout the area for its grain during the 

 rainy season, and is usually sown along with millets and other crops. 

 Though somewhat resembling mung an4 tird, it may easily be distin- 

 guished by its smooth stems, foliage and pods. The form sinensis 

 differs from the type in having twining stems, larger leaves and 

 longer pods. The green pods of a long-podded form are often eaten as 

 a substitute for French beans, but are very inferior The seeds vary 

 in colour, the white kinds being considered the best. The stalks and 

 leaves are used as fodder. I'hough not known anywhere in its truly 

 wild state, it probably originated in the Eastern Hemisphere. 



