Macroptilium lathyroides
species of plant
Macroptilium lathyroides is a species of plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) commonly known as the phasey bean. It is the type species of genus Macroptilium. Herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial growing up to 1 m high, it is native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America, and naturalized throughout the tropics. It is cultivated for forage or as a green manure or cover crop in rotation. As it quickly spreads on disturbed soils, it is considered an environmental weed in some areas.
Description
M. lathyroides is a herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial, 0.6–1 m tall. The leaves are compound with three ovate to lanceolate leaflets, 3–8 cm long and 1–3.5 cm wide. Red to purple flowers, with wing petals larger than the lower petals, develop on long stalks. They grow paired long pods, 5.5–12 cm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, which readily shatter when mature, containing numerous seeds dispersed by winds. Seads are obliquely oblong, about 3 mm long, mottled light and dark grey-brown or black.
The public source identifies “Macroptilium lathyroides” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Macroptilium, lathyroides and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3337120. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Macroptilium lathyroides” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.