Fabaceae

Pachyrhizus Rich. ex DC.

First published in Mém. Légum.: 379 (1826)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Mexico to Venezuela and NW. Argentina.

Descriptions

Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

Habit
Herbs or subshrubs
Ecology
Seasonally dry tropical forest and thicket, often on margins, and in scrub vegetation and open grassy areas
Distribution
Mexico, C America and W tropical S America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, W Brazil, Guyana), 3 species widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical America, one also extensively in the Palaeotropics
Note
See under Calopogonium for taxonomic affinities
[LOWO]

Uses

Use
Used for human food, e.g., P. erosus (L.) Urb. (yam bean, jicama) , pods also edible; other parts used for fibre and medicine
[LOWO]

Sources

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Legumes of the World Online

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0