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Pueraria montana var. lobata

Species category

Agricultural

Common name

kudzu, nepalem, wa yaka, acha, aka, Japanese arrowroot

Diagnostic characters

Planting unit

True seedTrue seed:
A mature fertilized ovule consisting of an embryo, with or without and external food reserve (e.g., endosperm) enclosed by the testa.

Shape

OvalOval:
Broadly elliptic.

Size

  • Length 3.5–4 mm 
  • Width 2.5–3 mm 
  • Thickness 1–1.5 mm 

Color

Brown with darker brown concentric flecking

Texture

Smooth

Other structures

HilumHilum:
The scar on the seed coat at the place of its detachment from the seed stalk (funiculus).
 on long margin with a white corky collar.

Identification notes

Some varieties of this species may have a white color or be brown without mottling.

Noxious weed seed categories

State Noxious Weed: Kansas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin 

AOSA examination list

Not included

More information

For more information, see ISMA fact sheet.

Nomenclature

Family

Fabaceae

Valid name

Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr. var. lobata (Willd.) Maesen & S.M. Almeida ex Sanjappa & Predeep

Synonyms

Dolichos lobatus Willd.
Pueraria hirsuta (Thunb.) C.K. Schneid.
Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi
Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi var. thomsonii (Benth.) Maesen
Pueraria thunbergiana (Siebold & Zucc.) Benth.

Pueraria montana  var. lobata  True seeds with the hilum on the long margin, with a white corky collar. 
Pueraria montana var. lobata True seeds with the hilum on the long margin, with a white corky collar.