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Vigna is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.<ref name=ait>Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012). Section Ceratotropis of subgenus Ceratotropis of Vigna (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new species from northern Western Ghats. Template:Webarchive Rheedea 22(1), 20-27.</ref> It includes some well-known cultivated species, including many types of beans. Some are former members of the genus Phaseolus. According to Hortus Third, Vigna differs from Phaseolus in biochemistry and pollen structure, and in details of the style and stipules.

Vigna is also commonly confused with the genus Dolichos, but the two differ in stigma structure.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Vigna are herbs or occasionally subshrubs. The leaves are pinnate, divided into 3 leaflets. The inflorescence is a raceme of yellow, blue, or purple pea flowers. The fruit is a legume pod of varying shapes containing seeds.<ref name=china>Vigna. Flora of China.</ref>

Familiar food species include the adzuki bean (V. angularis), the black gram (V. mungo), the cowpea (V. unguiculata, including the variety known as the black-eyed pea), and the mung bean (V. radiata). Each of these may be used as a whole bean, a bean paste, or as bean sprouts.

The genus is named after Domenico Vigna, a seventeenth-century Italian botanist and director of the Orto botanico di Pisa.<ref>Charters, M. Plant Names T-Z. The Eponym Dictionary of Southern African Plants.</ref>

UsesEdit

Root tubers of Vigna species have traditionally been used as food by the Indigenous Peoples of the Northern Territory.<ref name=NTflora>NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae. Retrieved 10 June 2018</ref>

Selected speciesEdit

The genus Vigna contains at least 90 species,<ref name=ait/><ref name=china/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> including: Template:Div col

Subgenus CeratotropisEdit

Subgenus HaydoniaEdit

Subgenus LasiospronEdit

Subgenus VignaEdit

Incertae sedisEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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