Mucuna subumbellata Wilmot-Dear

Wiriadinata, H., Ohashi, H. & Adema, F., 2016, Notes on Malesian Fabaceae (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) 16. The genus Mucuna, Blumea 61 (2), pp. 90-124 : 118

43. Mucuna subumbellata Wilmot-Dear

Mucuna subumbellata Wilmot-Dear (1990) 8. — Type: Brass 3514 (holo A; iso BISH, BM n.v.), Solomon Islands, Ngela, 25.1.1933

Mucuna brachycarpa auct. non Rech.: Merr. & L.M.Perry (1942) 405.

Mucuna ‘spec. E’, Verdc. (1979) 410.

Distribution — Malesia: Papua New Guinea: Bougainville; Solomon Islands: Guadalcanal.

Habitat & Ecology — Rainforest, along track.Altitude c. 900 m. Flowering: January; fruiting: April.

Note — Known from just a few specimens. The specimens in L are not complete, only one flower was available. Several characters could not be described in full detail. However, the description has been corrected by comparison with the description of Wilmot-Dear (1990). Merrill & Perry (1942) associated the species M. brachycarpa Rech. with Brass 3514 (green-flowered), the type of the present species. In Merrill’s time the common yellow-flowered species from Bougainville was not known. Verdcourt (1979) in his comments to the unnamed species Mucuna spec. E argued that Rechinger’s species, described on a single pod, was probably identical with the yellow-flowered species of Bougainville. Wilmot-Dear (1990) has taken the same view and described the green-flowered species as a new one: M. subumbellata , with Brass 3415 as the type. Vegetatively, M. subumbellata is very similar to M. gigantea .