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Vigna mungo

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Vigna mungo

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Also known as black gram, urad bean, minapa pappu, mungo bean

species of plant

OverviewAI-generated

*Vigna mungo*, also known as black gram, is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the genus *Vigna* and is classified within the order Fabales, class Magnoliopsida, and phylum Tracheophyta. The scientific name is *Vigna mungo* (L.) Hepper. This taxon is recognized as a useful plant with use as a vegetable.

Native to Assam, East Himalaya, India, Pakistan, and West Himalaya, *Vigna mungo* is also cultivated in the tropics of Africa and Asia. Records of the species have been documented in Honduras, Thailand, India, South Africa, and the United States. Various institutions, including IBUNAM, ANSP, MICH, MEL, and CDA, hold records related to this plant.

Synthesized by Vinony from 32 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Encyclopedia of Life, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Vigna mungo

SPECIES

  1. KingdomPlantae
  2. PhylumTracheophyta
  3. ClassMagnoliopsida
  4. OrderFabales
  5. FamilyFabaceae
Native toAssam, East Himalaya, India, Pakistan, West Himalaya
Observations recorded6,115

A native of India, cultivated in tropics in Africa, Asia.

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records
125
With media
82
Family
Fabaceae
Collections
IBUNAM, ANSP, MICH, MEL, CDA, A
Recorded in
Honduras, Thailand, India, South Africa, United States, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The black gram or urad bean (Vigna mungo) is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the genus Phaseolus to Vigna. The product sold as black gram is usually the whole urad bean, whereas the split bean (the interior being white) is called white lentil. It should not be confused with the much smaller true black lentil (Lens culinaris).

Black gram originated in South Asia, where it has been in cultivation from ancient times. It is very widely used in South Asian cuisine. In India the black gram is one of the important pulses grown in both kharif and rabi seasons. This crop is extensively grown in the southern part of India and the northern part of Bangladesh and Nepal. In Nepal it is known as maas and mash daal in Bangladesh. It is a popular daal (legume) side dish in South Asia that goes with curry and rice as a platter. Black gram has also been introduced to other tropical areas, such as the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, Myanmar and Africa, mainly by Indian immigrants during the Indian indenture system.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Vigna mungo” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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