Edible Portion: Root, Seeds, Pods, Leaves, Vegetable
A herb. It is an upright hairy bean plant which can be 1 m tall. It has many branches. The leaves have 3 leaflets and are dark green. The leaves are on long leaf stalks. There are oval stipules at the base of the leaf. Flowers are pale yellow and small. They occur in bunches of 10-20 on the ends of long hairy flower stalks. Pods are black and straight. They do not have a beak. Pods contain 10-20 seeds which are usually green or golden yellow. They are smaller than black gram. The beans can be black. They have a flat white hilum. There are 2,000 varieties.
A tropical and subtropical plant. The plant will grow from sea level up to probably 1,600 m in the tropics. It is drought resistant but can't stand water-logging. Plants are damaged by frost. They cannot stand salinity. Rainfall at flowering is detrimental. It requires a deep soil. Both short day and long day kinds occur. It can grow where annual temperatures are from 8°C to 28°C. It can also grow at high temperatures of 30-36°C. It can tolerate a pH from 4.3-8.1. In Nepal it grows up to 1000 m altitude. It suits a drier climate. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 10-11. In Yunnan.
Common names : Green gram bean, (Mung bean), Bechin, Borao, Cherupayaru, Dau-tam, Dau-xanh, Fore-mungu, Hesaru, Imposo, Kakhoma, Look dow, Mag, Mbweso, Ming bean, Moog, Mphodza, Mposo, Mudga, Mug, Mun, Mun-eta, Mung, Namurovo, Ndengu, Pasi-payaru, Passara, Passippayaru, Patchapesalu, Pe-di, Pe-di-sein, Pe-di-wa, Pe-nauk, Putcha-payaru, Sbaiha, Suna, To-pi-si, Uthulu,
Synonyms :
Adzukia radiata (L.) Ohwi.;
Phaseolus abyssinicus Savi;
Phaseolus aureus Roxb.;
Phaseolus hirtus Retz.;
Phaseolus radiatus L. ;
Phaseolus radiatus L. var. aurea (Roxb.)
Phaseolus radiatus L. var. typicus Prain;
Rudua aurea (Roxb.) Maek.;
Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek var. sublobata (Roxb.) Verdc.;
Vigna aureus (Roxb.) Hepper;