Editing Vigna (section)

{{Short description|Genus of plants}}
{{For|the surname|Vigna (surname)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Vigna unguiculata Blanco2.286-cropped.jpg
| image_caption = [[Cowpea]] (''Vigna unguiculata'')
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Vigna
| authority = [[Gaetano Savi|Savi]] (1824), nom. cons.
| subdivision_ranks = Subgenera
| subdivision =
*''Ceratotropis''
*''Haydonia''
*''Lasiospron''
*''Plectrotropis''
*''Vigna''
| synonyms = 
*''Azukia'' <small>Takah. ''ex'' Ohwi (1953)</small>
*''Callicysthus'' {{small|Endl. (1833)}}
*''Geolobus'' <small>Raf. (1836)</small>
*''Haydonia'' <small>R.Wilczek (1954)</small>
*''Liebrechtsia'' <small>De Wild. (1902)</small>
*''Phasellus'' {{small|Medik. (1787)}}
*''Plectrotropis'' <small>Schumach. (1827)</small>
*''Rudua'' {{small|Maek. (1955)}}
*''Scytalis'' <small>E.Mey. (1836)</small>
*''Voandzeia'' <small>Thouars (1806)</small>
|synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:325971-2 ''Vigna'' Savi] . ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 19 August 2023.</ref>
}}

'''''Vigna''''' is a [[genus]] of plants in the legume family, [[Fabaceae]], with  a [[pantropical]] distribution.<ref name=ait>Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012). [http://www.iaat.org.in/Rheedea22_20-27.pdf Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new species from northern Western Ghats.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235258/http://www.iaat.org.in/Rheedea22_20-27.pdf |date=December 2, 2013 }} ''Rheedea'' 22(1), 20-27.</ref> It includes some well-known cultivated species, including many types of [[bean]]s. 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 (botany)|style]] and [[stipule]]s.

''Vigna'' is also commonly confused with the genus ''[[Dolichos (plant)|Dolichos]]'', but the two differ in [[Stigma (botany)|stigma]] structure.<ref>{{cite book |title= Agricultural Varieties of the Cowpea and Immediately Related Species |url= https://archive.org/details/agriculturalvari00pipe |issue= 229 |series= Bulletin (United States. Bureau of Plant Industry) |author= Charles Vancouver Piper |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |year= 1912 |page= [https://archive.org/details/agriculturalvari00pipe/page/7 7]}}</ref>

''Vigna'' are herbs or occasionally [[shrub|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>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=134572 ''Vigna''.] Flora of China.</ref>

Familiar food species include the [[adzuki bean]] (''V. angularis''), the [[Vigna mungo|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 sprout]]s.

The genus is named after [[Domenico Vigna]], a seventeenth-century [[Italian people|Italian]] [[botanist]] and director of the [[Orto botanico di Pisa]].<ref>Charters, M. [http://www.calflora.net/southafrica/1T-Z.html Plant Names T-Z.] The Eponym Dictionary of Southern African Plants.</ref>