Calopogonium mucunoides
(calopo)

Preferred Scientific Name

• Calopogonium mucunoides Desv.

Preferred Common Name

• calopo

Other Scientific Names

• Calopogonium brachycarpum (Benth.) Hemsl.
• Calopogonium orthocarpum Urb.
• Stenolobium brachycarpum Benth.

International Common Names

• English: caloponium; wild ground nut
• Spanish: bejuco culebra; frijolillo rabo de iguana (Colombia); frisolilla; gusanillo (Colombia); jicama; picapica (Colombia); rabo de iguana
• French: pois bleu
• Chinese: mao man dou

Local Common Names

• Brazil: falso-ouro
• Cuba: bejuco peludo
• Indonesia: kacang asu
• Philippines: karaparapak; santing
• Puerto Rico: jicama
• Thailand: thua karapo

EPPO code

• CLOMU (Calopogonium mucunoides)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Genus: Calopogonium
•                                 Species: Calopogonium mucunoides

Species within the subfamily Faboideae (also known as Papilionoideae) of the Fabaceae family are trees, shrubs, and herbs that may be easily recognized by their classical pea-shaped flowers and the frequent occurrence of root nodulation (Stevens, 2012). The genus Calopogonium includes about 6-8 species native to tropical continental America and widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Acevedo-Rodríguez, 2005).

Slightly woody vine, twining or creeping, much branched, attaining 3-5 m in length. Stems slender, cylindrical, hirsute. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets chartaceous, 2-10 × 1.5-6.5 cm, the apex obtuse to almost rounded, the base of the terminal leaflet cuneate to rounded, and that of the lateral leaflets markedly asymmetrical, the margins entire; both surfaces dull, pubescent; lower surface with prominent venation. Inflorescences in axillary pseudo-racemes, up to 10 cm long; rachis hirsute; bracts persistent and about 7 mm long. Calyx campanulate, 7-8 mm long, hirsute, the sepals subulate, caudate at the apex; corolla blue or purple, the standard 6-7 mm long, marginate. Fruit is a legume, oblong-linear, flattened, hirsute, 2-4 × 0.3-0.5 cm. Seeds almost quadrangular, approximately 3 mm wide, reddish brown and shiny (Acevedo-Rodríguez, 2005).

In the West Indies, herbarium collections and botanical surveys show that C. mucunoides was first recorded in 1881 in Puerto Rico (Bello Espinosa, 1881), and in 1905 in Cuba (US Herbarium collection) and it is described as common in cultivated grounds, hillsides, disturbed fields and tickets. In Africa and Asia C. mucunoides was introduced in the early 1900s to be used as a green manure and cover crop and to improve soils and prevent erosion (Prota4U, 2013). In Sumatra, Java, and Malaysia this species was introduced in the 1920s to be used as a cover crop in the rubber and sisal plantations (Prota4U, 2013).

In Australia, C. mucunoides was introduced in the 1930s as a pasture legume, but it escaped from cultivation and became naturalized in disturbed sites and waste grounds along roadsides and waterways, and on the edges of rainforests in tropical regions of northern Australia. In the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, C. mucunoides is listed as an environmental weed, and populations are extending rapidly forming dense mats that smother native vegetation (Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, 2011).

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• acid

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

C. mucunoides only spreads by seeds. However, it is a fast-growing vine with the potential to grow forming dense mats at ground level once established at a new site. Seeds are ejected short distances from the pods which twist upon drying. Additionally, because plants are common in disturbed and agricultural areas, seeds can easily be dispersed as contaminants in mud or hay adhering to vehicles, humans or livestock (Smith, 2002; Cook et al., 2005).

C. mucunoides can become a weed in humid-tropical environments. This species is a fast-growing vine with the potential to form dense mats that smother native vegetation as well as crops. C. mucunoides has become invasive in tropical ecosystems in northern Australia, islands in the Pacific Ocean such as French Polynesia, Solomon Island, Samoa and Palau, and areas in Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Australia this species is considered a serious weed in sugarcane and groundnut plantations (Cooks et al., 2005; Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, 2011; PIER, 2013).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Highly mobile locally
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Long lived
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year

• Altered trophic level
• Damaged ecosystem services
• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Modification of nutrient regime
• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Negatively impacts agriculture
• Reduced native biodiversity

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - smothering
• Competition - strangling
• Competition (unspecified)
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally
• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

C. mucunoides is widely cultivated as a forage and pasture legume, green manure and cover crop. It is also commonly planted as a pioneer species and as a nitrogen fixing species to reduce erosion and improve soil fertility (Cook et al., 2005). Despite generally low palatability, it is used as animal forage during the latter part of the dry season in tropical Asia and Africa (Cook et al., 2005; FAO, 2013).