Talk:Vigna

Does anyone know why this lot got taken out of Phaseolus, and what the defining differences between the two genera are? seglea 06:54, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)

According to Hortus Third Vigna is:

"Closely related to Phaseolus, from which it differs in having stipules often appendaged and the thickened part of the style less strongly twisted and in characters of the pollen and biochemistry."

-- WormRunner 20:58, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

A note: The literature available in Google seems completely divided over whether the bambara groundnut is a Vigna or a Voandzeia. ITIS places it in Vigna. WormRunner 06:01, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I've tried to incorporate the above in the article, but if someone who understands it better than I do could render it more comprehensible to the non-expert reader, that would be a service. seglea 18:17, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I've taken out references to the genus being called the cowpeas, the most common usage of cowpea is used to describe the cultivated species Vigna unguiculata and it cultivars, so the species has been shifted from cow bean (which seems to be a made up name) to cowpea. ITIS was used for naming, please use ILDIS for naming legumes as it is an international taxonomic database. --nixie 23:14, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)