Common name: Maloga Bean, Native Bean
Vigna lanceolata Benth. APNI*
Description: Erect or twining perennial with taproot to 40 cm long; stems to c. 2 m long, sparsely hairy to glabrous.
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets linear to lanceolate or ovate, 3–8 cm long, 4–35 mm wide, apex acute to ± obtuse, base entire to lobed, sparsely hairy; petiole 2–6 cm long; stipules lanceolate, 2–3 mm long.
Racemes c. 5-flowered; peduncles 7.5–20 cm long. Calyx c. 2 mm long, teeth ± equal to tube. Corolla greenish yellow; standard 7–10 mm long; keel incurved and acute.
Pod ± terete, 2–5 cm long, glabrous or with a few appressed hairs; seeds mostly 4–7.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows near creeks and often a weed of cultivation on black soils.
NSW subdivisions: NC, NWS, NWP, NFWP
Other Australian states: Qld Vic. N.T. S.A. W.A.
A variable species. The following key is a guide to the recognized varieties pending future research.
Text by C. Gardner & T. A. James
| ||Key to the varieties|| |
|1||Stems ± short, 1–2 mm diam., leaflets linear to lanceolate or ovate, often lobed at base, 2–8 cm long, 3–35 mm wide||2|
|Stems long and slender, <1 mm diam., leaflets linear to linear-lanceolate, usually unlobed at base, mostly 4–8 cm long, 2–7 mm wide||var. filiformis|
|2||Leaflets linear to lanceolate or narrow-ovate, base often lobed and ± hastate, mostly 2–7 cm long, 3–10 mm wide||var. lanceolata|
|Leaflets wide-lanceolate to ovate, often wedge-shaped towards base, sometimes lobed, mostly 2–8 cm long, 10–35 mm wide|
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APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.