NAME: Calopogonium mucunoides
FAMILY: Fabaceae
COMMON NAMES: calopo, wild ground nut, crab grass
LOCAL NAMES: Apalofa, Agbiri
MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION: Calopogonium mucunoides is vigorous, hairy annual or short-lived creeping, twining or trailing, herb, up to several metres long, forming a tangled mass of foliage 30-50 cm thick, with densely pilose stems with long rust-coloured hairs.
USEFUL PART(s): seed and leaves
GENERAL USES:
It is an important cover crop for plantation crops
Green manure to protect the soil surface
Weed controller
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Tropical Americas and the West Indies, Indonesia and Malaysia
WHY IS IT GREEN?
Diarrhoea,
Skin infection.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Does not contain toxic factors.
Weed potential
FURTHER READING
Dinesh, R., Suryanarayana, M. A., Ghoshal Chaudhuri, S., & Sheeja, T. E. (2004). Long-term influence of leguminous cover crops on the biochemical properties of a sandy clay loam Fluventic Sulfaquent in a humid tropical region of India. Soil and Tillage Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2003.11.001
HIDAYATI, N. (2006). Potency of Centrocema pubescence, Calopogonium mucunoides, and Micania cordata for cleaning metal contaminants of gold mines waste. Biodiversitas, Journal of Biological Diversity. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d070102
Leuner, O., Havlik, J., Hummelova, J., Prokudina, E., Novy, P., & Kokoska, L. (2013). Distribution of isoflavones and coumestrol in neglected tropical and subtropical legumes. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.5835
Ribeiro, R. C., Feitoza, R. B. B., Lima, H. R. P., & Geraldo De Carvalho, M. (2015). Phytotoxic effects of phenolic compounds on Calopogonium mucunoides (Fabaceae) roots. Australian Journal of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT15097