Pueraria tuberosa

Pueraria tuberosa
Pueraria tuberosa Scientific classification Kingdom: (unranked): (unranked): (unranked): Order: Family: Genus: Species: Plantae Angiosperms Eudicots Rosids Fabales Fabaceae Pueraria P. tuberosa

Binomial name Pueraria tuberosa (Willd.) DC. Synonyms

Hedysarum tuberosum Willd.

Description
Pueraria tuberosa, commonly known as kudzu, Indian kudzu,[1] or Nepalese kudzu, is a climber with woody tuberculated stem. It is a climbing, coiling and trailing vine with large tuberous roots. The tubers are globose or pot-like, about 25 centimetres (9.8in) across and the insides are white, starchy and mildly sweet. Leaves are trifoliate and alternate, while the leaflets are egg-shaped, with round base and unequal sides. They are 18cm (7.1in) long and 16cm (6.3in) wide and are hairless above. Flowers are bisexual, around 1.5cm (0.59in) across and blue or purplish-blue in color. The fruit pods are linear, about 25cm (0.791.97in) long and constricted densely between the seeds. They have silky, bristly reddish-brown hair. Seeds vary from 3 to 6 in number. It is native to India,[2] Pakistan, and Nepal. In Telugu, Kudzu is termed as Nela Gummadi, Dari Gummadi, Vidari Kanda.

Conservation status
Kudzu is facing extinction in the wild because of herb hunters who trade the tubers illegally to agents of pharmaceutical or Ayurvedic companies. In the black market, the red variety kudzu tuber of about 10kg is believed to be very expensive ranging up to lakhs of rupees. The tubers are not disturbed from the plant, but the agents draw the juice of the tuber using syringes.[citation needed]

References
[1] Pueraria tuberosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) DC. (http:/ / www. ars-grin. gov/ cgi-bin/ npgs/ html/ taxon. pl?30361), Germplasm Resources Information Network Taxonomy for Plants, last updated April 21, 1999 [2] Pueraria tuberosa (Roxb.ex Willd.) DC. (http:/ / www. efloras. org/ florataxon. aspx?flora_id=5& taxon_id=220011261), Flora of Pakistan, S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser (eds), 2001

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Pueraria tuberosa Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=583803519 Contributors: Alan Liefting, Brammers, Kingdon, Redaloes, Ruigeroeland, Sminthopsis84, Stemonitis, Vinayaraj, Woohookitty

License
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