Tropicos | Name - !Vigna caracalla (L.) Verdc.

!Vigna caracalla (L.) Verdc.

Flora Data (Last Modified On 10/1/2013)

Species	Vigna caracalla (L.) Verdc.
PlaceOfPublication	Kew Bull. 24: 552. 1970.
Synonym	Phaseolus caracalla L., Sp. P1. 725. 1753. TYPE: ?India, not located.
Description	Twining vine, sometimes somewhat woody below; stems sparsely appressed pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves pinnate trifoliolate; leaflets ovate, mostly 8-15 cm long, 4-9 cm wide, apically short acuminate, basally obtuse, truncate or rounded, glabrate; petiolules stout, 3-6 mm long, tomentose; petioles stout, drying angled, about as long as the terminal leaflet; stipels ovate, glabrous, striate, 2-4 mm long; stipules deltoid, striate, ciliate. Inflorescences 5-30 cm long, the enlarged nodes, distributed along the upper portion of the peduncle; bracteoles ovate, striate, 2-2.5 mm long; bracts ovate, striate, caducous; pedicels slender, expanded below, to 9 mm long, glabrous. Flowers pale lavender or purple, some- times partly white; calyx broadly campanulate, basally cupular, to 13 mm long, the lobes short, rounded; standard to 5 mm long, curled back, the keel in 4 spirals. Legume linear oblong, falcate, compressed, slightly turgid around the seeds, 8- 15 cm long, ca. 1 cm wide, maturing buff colored, minutely pilose; seeds com- pressed globose, ca. 8 mm across, black, the hilum white, conspicuous.
Habit	vine
Specimen	BOCAS DEL TORO: Water Valley, Wedel 1473 (MO). CANAL ZONE: Near Salamanca Hydrographic Station on gorge of Rio Pequeni, Dodge et al. 17066 (MO).