Vigna reticulata

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A bean family herb. It can grow each year from seed or continue to grow from year to year. It can climb or trail over the ground. Stems can be 0.6-1.5 m long. The stems are covered with reddish-brown hairs. The leaves normally have 3 leaflets. The leaflets can be 1.5-22 cm long by 0.3-4 cm wide. They have fine hairs. The small veins are close together and at right angles to the midrib. The leaf stalk is 2-8 cm long. The flowers occur in the axils of leaves. There are 2-6 flowers. The flowering stalk is 4-25 cm long. The pea like flower has a pink to red standard with a yellow centre. The wings are purple and the keel white. The fruit are pods held erect and spreading. They are 3-8 cm long and 4-4.5 mm wide. The seeds are pink to grown with dark speckles. They are oblong and 3-4 mm long by 2-3 mm wide.

There are about 150 Vigna species. They are mostly in the tropics.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in grassland and bushland in West Africa. It grows from sea level to 2,400 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The leaves are cooked and eaten. The roots are eaten as a snack or cooked as a vegetable.

In Papua New Guinea they have been grown in trial plots at Aiyura at 1500 m altitude.

Edible parts

Leaves, roots, tubers, seeds, vegetable

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Chama, Chamaweya, Nkainia, Tirde

Synonyms

Vigna andongensis Baker; Vigna linearifolia Hook. f.; Vigna polytricha Baker; Vigna reticulata var. linearifolia (Hook.f.) Baker;