Appearance
The plant is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 m in length. When the plant is young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus-shaped or widely ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are pointy. In young ''M. pruriens'' plants, both sides of the leaves have hairs. The stems of the leaflets are two to three millimeters long. Additional adjacent leaves are present and are about 5 mm long.The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are 15–32 cm long and have two or three, or many flowers. The accompanying leaves are about 12.5 mm long, the flower stand axes are from 2.5–5 mm . The bell is 7.5–9 mm long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the same length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is 1.5 mm long. The wings are 2.5–3.8 cm long.
In the fruit-ripening stage, a 4–13 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, unwinged, leguminous fruit develops. There is a ridge along the length of the fruit. The husk is very hairy and carries up to seven seeds. The seeds are flattened uniform ellipsoids, 1–1.9 cm long, .8–1.3 cm wide and 4–6.5 cm thick. The ''hilum'', the base of the ''funiculus'' is a surrounded by a significant ''arillus'' .
''M.pruriens'' bears white, lavender, or purple flowers. Its seed pods are about 10 cm long and are covered in loose, orange hairs that cause a severe itch if they come in contact with skin. The itch is caused by a protein known as mucunain. The seeds are shiny black or brown drift seeds.
The dry weight of the seeds is 55–85 g /100 seeds.
Naming
* ''Frijol de Abono'' in the Guatemala language⤷ "Nkasi" in Nyanja of Zambia and "Sepe" in Bemba of Zambia
⤷ ''Bieh'' in the Madurese language
⤷ ''Ci mao li dou'' 刺毛黧豆 in Chinese
⤷ ''Nasagunnikaayi'' in Kannada
⤷ ''Kara benguk '' in the Javanese language
⤷ ''Atmagupta'' or ''Kapikacchu'' in Sanskrit
⤷ ''Kiwanch'' or Kooch in Hindi
⤷ ''Khaajkuiri'' in Marathi
⤷ ''Alkushi''/আলকুশি
⤷ ''Poonaikkaali'' in Tamil
⤷ ''Juckbohne''
⤷ ''Fogareté'' ; ''Picapica'' , in Spanish
⤷ ''Kapikachu''
⤷ ''Werepe'' or YerepeYoruba
⤷ "Devil Beans" in English
⤷ ''Duradagondi'' or 'Dulagondi' in Telugu
⤷ ''Feijão maluco'', "mad bean" ; ''pó-de-mico'', "itching powder", ''feijão-da-flórida'', "Florida's bean", ''feijão-cabeludo-da-índia'', "hairy/pilous Indian bean", ''feijão-de-gado'', "cattle's bean", ''feijão-mucuna'', "mucuna bean", ''feijão-veludo'', "velvet bean", and ''mucuna-vilosa'', "fleecy mucuna" , in Portuguese
⤷ ''Chitedze''
⤷ ''Naykuruna''
⤷ ''Mah mui'' in Thai
⤷ ''Đậu mèo rừng, đậu ngứa, móc mèo'' in Vietnamese
⤷ ''Kavach beej''
⤷ ''Yèrènkpè'' Nupe
⤷ ''Inyelekpe'' in Igala
⤷ ''Upupu'' in Kiswahili
⤷ ''Baidanka'' ''ବାଇଡଙ୍କ''in Oriya
⤷ ''Pois mascate'' in French
⤷ ''Wandhuru Mæ'' in Sinhala
⤷ ''Kway lee yerr thee'' in Myanmar
⤷ ''Agbala'' in Ibo
⤷ "Bandar Kekowa" in Assamese
⤷ "picapica .
⤷ ''Akpakru'' Bekwarra
⤷ "Kauchho" or "Kauso" in Nepali
⤷ ''Mamui'' in Thai
⤷ "Huriri" in Shona*''Mucuna pruriens'' ssp. ''deeringiana'' Hanelt
⤷ ''Mucuna pruriens'' ssp. ''pruriens''
Uses
In many parts of the world ''Mucuna pruriens'' is used as an important forage, fallow and green manure crop. Since the plant is a legume, it fixes nitrogen and fertilizes soil.''M. pruriens'' is a widespread fodder plant in the tropics. To that end, the whole plant is fed to animals as silage, dried hay or dried seeds. ''M. pruriens'' silage contains 11-23% crude protein, 35-40% crude fiber, and the dried beans 20-35% crude protein. It also has use in the countries of Benin and Vietnam as a biological control for problematic ''Imperata cylindrica'' grass. ''M. pruriens'' is said to not be invasive outside its cultivated area. However, the plant is known to be invasive within conservation areas of South Florida, where it frequently invades disturbed land and rockland hammock edge habitats.
''M. pruriens'' is sometimes used as a coffee substitute called "Nescafe" .
Cooked fresh shoots or beans can also be eaten. ''M. pruriens'' contains relatively high levels of L-DOPA, an essential compound in human metabolism. Some people are sensitive to ingestion of high levels of L-DOPA and may experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, cramping, arrhythmias, and hypotension. Up to 99% of the L-DOPA can be leached out of ''M. pruriens'' by soaking in boiling water for 40 minutes, changing the water, and then soaking in cold water. Acidic water significantly increases the rate at which L-DOPA is leached out. The beans may then be cooked by any method desired. Pre-boiling also contributes to better decomposition of anti-nutrients found in ''M. pruriens'' through cooking.
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