Lawn, R.J., and Watkinson, A.R. (2002) Habitats, morphological diversity, and distribution of the genus Vigna Savi in Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 53 (12). pp. 1305-1316.

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Abstract

Vigna is an agriculturally important genus containing several important species used as pulses, forages, vegetable, or cover crops. The genus is represented in Australia by 5 species, 4 indigenous (V. radiata, V. vexillata, V. luteola, V. marina) and 1 endemic (V. lanceolata). A germplasm collection has been assembled comprising >400 accessions of the 5 Vigna species from Australia and offshore and seed committed to storage as the CSIRO National Vigna collection. For a large number of accessions, herbarium sheets have also been prepared either from field or glasshouse-grown plants and lodged with the Qld Herbarium, Brisbane. This paper describes the structure of the collection and, for each of the 5 species and major regional variants, summarises provenance information on their geographic distribution, habitat, soil type, and associated species. Within the Australian tropics/subtropics, the Vigna species collectively occupy a diverse range of grassland habitats extending from the foreshore to the central desert. Of the 5 species, the endemic V. lanceolata is the most diverse in terms of distribution, habitat, and morphology. Geographic gaps in the collection are noted and priorities for future collection suggested.

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