Mucuna sempervirens seed
LATIN NAME: Mucuna sempervirens
COMMON NAME: Evergreen Mucuna
The evergreen mucuna covers a whole wall in a single season, given half a chance. The vigorous, twining, evergreen vine carries the large, trifoliate leaves and the dramatic, hanging racemes of the large, violet-purple flowers in the late spring, one of the fine sights of the warm garden, to be followed by the broad, velvety pods. The plant is a fine, fast cover of the warm wall, the pergola and the fence. It is a vine of the deep, rich, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The evergreen mucuna is a quiet but striking figure in the plant science, studied for the hanging racemes of the violet-purple flowers and the large, trifoliate leaves. Researchers have looked at the chemistry of the plant, which carries the compounds of the old practice, and it keeps showing up in the work on the flowering vines, the medicinal climbers and the members of the pea family. The broad, velvety pods and the vigorous, twining habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the evergreen mucuna is a regular subject of the studies of the great flowering vines of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The evergreen mucuna is a fine, fast curtain of the warm garden, with a serious old record in the books. The hanging racemes of the violet-purple flowers are one of the fine sights of the late spring, and the vine covers the warm wall, the pergola and the fence in a season, giving a fine, green screen of the year. The plant carries the compounds of the old practice of the East, and the seeds have their own long record in the books, so the mucuna is a plant to grow for the flowers and the screen rather than for the table. It has drawn attention in the international horticultural and the botanical press for the violet racemes and the old record of the seeds, and it is a fine, generous vine of the deep, rich, well-drained garden.
The evergreen mucuna is one of the fine flowering vines of the warm world, and the hanging racemes of the violet-purple flowers are a fine sight of the late spring. The seeds carry the compounds of the old practice, so the vine is one for the flowers and the screen rather than the table.
To grow the evergreen mucuna from seed, sow the large, hard seeds at a depth of two centimetres in pots of moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a warm, bright spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a few weeks and climb fast. Give them the sun, the warmth and the deep, rich, well-drained ground, and the violet racemes will hang through the late spring.
Mucuna Sempervirens vine
This Mucuna is from China and Japan, and the flowers are rather something special. Blooms are dramatic purple/black with gold to top it all off, and are produced in large hanging bunches. Each individual bloom bud grows to 3″ or more.
This is one you will surely want to try even in your conservatory, possible trained under the roof. It is a very vigorous, evergreen woody climber with lustrous deep green leaves.
Family: Leguminosae/ Fabaceae