Pueraria | |
---|---|
Pueraria phaseoloides | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Tribe: | Phaseoleae |
Subtribe: | Glycininae |
Genus: |
Pueraria DC. |
Species | |
About 15–20; see text |
About 15–20; see text
Pueraria is a genus of 15–20 species of plants native to Asia. Pueraria flower is used in traditional Chinese medicine to reduce reactions to alcohol consumption, and is undergoing scientific study for that use.Pueraria thomsonii has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever, acute dysentery, diarrhea, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
The genus is polyphyletic, with different species being related to species in Glycine (which includes soybean), Amphicarpaea, Nogra, Teyleria, Neonotonia, Pseudovigna, Pseudeminia, Pachyrhizus (which includes jicama), and other genera of the tribe Phaseoleae.
These five species are closely related, and the name kudzu describes one or more of them. The morphological differences between the five species are subtle, they can breed with each other, and it appears that introduced kudzu populations in the United States have ancestry from more than one of the species.
Other plants that belong to this genus include: