Vines perennial. Stems trailing or twining, sometimes rooting at nodes, hirsute. Leaves: stipules triangular, 3–5 mm, base slightly auriculate-cordate; petiole 1.5–8 cm; rachis 0.4–1 cm; stipels linear, 1.5–2.5 mm; leaflet blades ovate- or linear-lanceolate, 3–8 × 0.5–5 cm, base obtuse or rounded, apex acute or acuminate. Peduncles to 30 cm. Inflorescences often flexuous, floral nodes 10–15, mostly clustered at apex; bracts deciduous, ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm. Pedicels ascending, curved distally, 3–5 mm; bracteoles tardily deciduous, trian­gular, 1.5–2.5 mm. Flowers: calyx tube 4.5–6 mm, apex acute to acuminate, adaxial lobe broader, 2.5–3.5 mm; corolla yellow, 15–20 mm; banner suborbiculate, 1.5–2 × 1.5–2 mm, with 2 basal auricles; wings obliquely obovate, 15 × 1 mm; keel broadly curved, vertically incurved, 15 × 5–6 mm; style curved, extending beyond stigma into tip. Legumes pendulous, brown-black in age, linear, torulose, 4–7 × 0.5–0.8 cm, strigose to pilose. Seeds 5–12, brownish black, reniform, 4–6 × 3–4 mm; hilum white, not raised.

Phenology: Flowering year-round.
Habitat: Moist, silty, clay, or sandy soils, on limestone rock, river and lake margins, edges of brackish marshes, pinelands, seashores.
Elevation: 0–200 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Introduced; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.J., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tex., Va., Africa, introduced also in South America, Asia.

Discussion

Vigna luteola is common and widespread around the world; it bears a complicated nomenclature (R. Pasquet 2001, 2001b).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.