Vigna 
FABACEAE 113 
1. Stipules peltate; seed coat patterned with fine longitudinal 
lamellae and transverse Stride ......c.sessessesseeseessesseees 
2. Flowers yellow; pod 20-35 mm long, .....csscessseseeeseesees 
2. Flowers mauve or purplish; pod 80-130 mm long...... 
3. Pod cylindrical, hairy; leaflets linear-lanceolate, lanceolate to ovate; keel curved .... 
3. Pod flat, glabrate; leaflets ovate to orbicular; keel Coiled .....c.c.csscsessssssssesessseeeseceeseseevesees 
V. adenantha (G.Mey.) Marechal 
Vigorous, short-lived perennial vine. Vegetative 
parts and pod sparsely hairy with simple and 
tubercular based hairs and minute vesicular glands 
on underside of leaves. Stipules c. 3 mm long, 
triangular, striate. Rachis to basal leaflets 40-77 mm, 
50-100 mm overall; leaflets ovate to orbicular, 
62-123 mm long, 40-102 mm wide, L/W 1.2-1.7; basal 
leaflets asymmetric. Inflorescence to 350 mm long, 
flowers arising from glandular swellings. Bracteoles 
caducous, 2-3.5 mm long. Calyx 7-10 mm long, lobes 
c. half total length, the 2 upper lobes incurved. Corolla 
white, suffused with purple or pink blushes; standard 
broader than long, c. 25 mm long, emarginate; wings 
partly adnate to keel; keel strongly coiled. Pod 
greenish, straight or slightly falcate, coriaceous, raised 
over seeds, 80-130 mm long, c. 9 mm wide, with 
slightly thickened margins. Seeds 8-14, c. 8 mm long, 
6 mm wide, caruncle obscure. Flowering: July - Sept; 
fruiting: Aug - Oct. Fig. 32 
Pantropical; in Australia in Qld and NT; in the 
DR, known only from Manton Dam. On margins 
of perennial streams and swamps. Aborigines eat the 
tap root raw or cooked (Levitt, 1981). 
V. lanceolata Benth. var. filiformis Benth. 
Perennial twining vine with annual aerial stems; 
amphicarpic. Vegetative parts glabrate, the hairs 
simple, stiff, short. Stipules c. 2 mm long, extending 
shortly below point of attachment. Rachis to basal 
leaflets 23-47 mm, 27-60 mm overall; stipels 
obtuse; leaflets linear or linear-lanceolate, 
40-80 mm long, 3-8 mm wide, L/W 6-23, 2° veins + 
at right angles to midrib, scabrous. Inflorescence an 
axillary few-flowered raceme on a triquetrous 
peduncle 20-40 mm long. Pedicels 2-3 mm long. 
Calyx 3-4 mm long, glabrate; lobes subequal, c. 1/3 
of total length. Corolla yellow; standard broader 
than long, c. 8 mm long; orifice in keel with 
recurved margins. Anthers versatile. Ovary hairy. 
Pod brown, straight, flat, 20-35 mm long, 
smooth. Seeds 5-6, mottled, 4.2-5 mm long, 
3-3.5 mm wide; hilum towards one end; caruncle 
apronitira sitions 2 
V. radiata 
V. lanceolata 
3 
V. vexillata 
V. adenantha 
white, c. 2 mm long. Flowering: Jan - June; fruiting: 
Apr - Aug. Fig. 32 
Australian endemic (WA, NT, Qld); in the NT, 
occurring on lateritic and sandy soils in Eucalypt 
savanna from Darwin to eastern Arnhem Land. The 
root tuber is eaten after preparation (Levitt, 1981; 
O’Connell et al., 1983; Smith et al., 1993; Russell- 
Smith, 1985; Wightman et al., 1992) and pods can be 
eaten raw (Levitt, 1981). 
V. radiata (L.) R.Wilczek var. sublobata (Roxb.) Verdc. 
Annual or perennial-rooted twining vine. Vegetative 
parts and pods hispid and scabrous with short, 
stiff, hyaline or brown tubercular based hairs. 
Stipules peltate, striate, (3)6-11 mm long. Rachis to 
basal leaflets 25-120 mm, (30)44-143 mm overall, 
hairs retrorse; stipels c. 5 mm long; leaflets 
thin, ovate-lanceolate, deltoid or rhomboid, 
rarely narrowly oblong, often lobed or asymmetric, 
30-116 mm long, (7)25-83 mm wide, L/W 1.2-1.9; 
hairs antrorse. Inflorescence of c. 6 flowers, 
peduncles 20-160 mm long, apices glandular; hairs 
retrorse. Bracteoles c. as long as the calyx. Calyx c. 3 
mm long, lobes c. 1/3 of total length. Corolla pale 
yellow; standard asymmetric, + twisted, broader 
than long, c. 10 mm long; keel and style strongly 
twisted, one petal with a prominent spur. Pod 
brown, cylindrical, 54-66 mm long, 3-5 mm wide; 
hairs antrorse. Seeds 10-13, brown, cylindrical, 
3-4 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, seed coat with a 
regular pattern of longitudinal lamellae and 
transverse striae. Flowering and fruiting: Mar - June. 
Fig. 32 
Widespread from Africa to tropical Australia; in 
the NT and the DR, mainly coastal or subcoastal in 
seasonally moist and often shaded sites Vigna radiata 
var. radiata (Mung Bean) differs from this variety in 
being erect with unlobed leaves; it has not been 
recorded wild in the NT. . 
V. vexillata (L.) A.Rich. 
Hairs of all parts tubercular based, short, stiff, often 
