SafePlants

No images found for this plant ID: 7920.

Ensure images are uploaded to the Media Library and tagged with "7920" in the "plant_image_tag" taxonomy.

Safe for Children?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Dogs?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Cats?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Reptiles?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

calopogonium

Scientific Name: Calopogonium

Family: Fabaceae

Category: Dicot

Growth:

Duration:

Other Names:

       

Calopogonium mucunoides: An Overview

Calopogonium mucunoides, commonly known as Calopo, is a vigorous legume with a history of use as a green manure and cover crop. It is a twining or trailing herb, often forming a tangled mass of foliage.

Considerations for Pets

  • Calopogonium mucunoides is a hairy vine that can form dense mats, potentially posing entanglement hazards for small animals.
  • The plant is known to have been investigated for toxic properties.

Considerations for Children

  • Calopogonium mucunoides is a hairy vine that can form dense mats.

Scientific Name and Common Names

  • Scientific Name: Calopogonium mucunoides Desv.
  • Common Name: Calopo

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Phylum/Division: Magnoliophyta
  • Class: Eudicots
  • Order: Fabales
  • Family: Fabaceae (Legume Family)
  • Subfamily: Faboideae
  • Genus: Calopogonium
  • Species: Calopogonium mucunoides
  • Synonyms:
    • Calopogonium brachycarpum (Benth.) Benth. ex Hemsl.
    • Calopogonium orthocarpum Urb.
    • Stenolobium brachycarpum Benth.

Distribution and Habitat

  • Native to tropical America.
  • Naturalized in NE India and Southern India.
  • Introduced into tropical Africa and Asia in the early 1900s and to Australia in the 1930s.
  • Also found in forest plantations and plains.

Ecological Role

  • Listed as a very aggressive weed in the Global Compendium of Weeds.
  • Impacts principally on various ecosystems due to its vigorous growth.

Morphological Characteristics

  • A vigorous, creeping, twining, or trailing herb.
  • Can grow up to several meters long, forming a tangled mass of foliage 30-50 cm deep.
  • Stems are densely pilose (hairy).

Interactions with Other Organisms

  • Susceptible to a severe yellow disease.
  • Can be infected by a tymovirus, as found in Malaysia.
  • Acts as a host for Bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV).
  • Promiscuous in its nodulating habits.

Uses

  • Used as a green manure and cover crop.
  • Leaves are used in South Eastern Nigeria for the management of ulcers.
  • Used as forage for livestock, including draught donkeys.
  • Potential agent for phytoremediation in crude oil contaminated soil.

Further Information

  • Information can be found in databases such as The Plant List, IPNI (International Plant Names Index), and the Australian Plant Name Index.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K) Herbarium has collections of this plant.
  • Discover Life provides information on the biology, natural history, ecology, identification, and distribution of Calopogonium mucunoides.
  • Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk project (PIER) has species information RE: Calopogonium caeruleum.