Velvet Bean (Poonaikali)
Mucuna pruriens
About Velvet Bean (Poonaikali)
Velvet Bean (Poonaikali) (Mucuna pruriens) is a herb used in the Siddha Medicine tradition to help with Nerve Support, Libido, Fertility, and Depression. The aerial parts and leaves are the parts traditionally used, taken internally.
Botanical background
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean. The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It has agricultural and horticultural value and is used in herbalism.
Source: Wikipedia, via iNaturalist