Mucuna pruriens

Krishnaraj, Moothedathu Venugopalan Nair & Mohanan, Narayanan Nair, 2012, Notes on the identity and status of two Legumes (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae) from India, Phytotaxa 66 (1), pp. 13-20 : 19

Key to the varieties of Mucuna pruriens in India

1a. Pods with dense white, yellow or brownish straight or curved hairs, not glabrescent; hairs rigid, irritant.................. 2

1b. Pods with dense pale appressed silky hairs, later glabrescent; hairs not rigid or irritant ............................................... ............................................................................................... M. pruriens var. utilis (Wall. ex Wight) Baker ex Burck

2a. Pods slightly curved at base with white hairs initially, turning brown or even blackish; leaflets subcoriaceous, dorsal and ventral side densely silky hairy throughout....................................................................... M. pruriens var. hirsuta

2b. Pods curved, S-shaped with brownish irritant hairs; leaflets membranous, glabrous or rarely hairy on ventral surface only ........................................................................................................................................ M. pruriens var. pruriens