Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Mucuna pruriens - Velvet Bean
EdiblePortion: Seeds, Young pods, Leaves, Vegetable
An evergreen herb of shrub. It is a climbing vine. It climbs to 6 m high. It can re-grow each year or live for a few years. The stems are slender with long, slender branches. They are very hairy when young. The leaves are alternate with sword shaped leaves. The leaf stalks are hairy. There are 3 leaflets. The leaflets are 5-19 cm long and 4-16 cm wide. The leaflets are rounded at the base and the side leaflets are unequal in shape. The flowers are large and white with bluish butterfly shaped petals. They occur in clusters of 2 or 3. The flowers are 2-4 cm long. The fruit are thick, leathery pods covered with hairs. They are 10 cm long and contain 4-6 seeds. The pods are dark brown.