Are these two plants different, or one and the same? I always thought Phaseolus caracalla was a Synonym for Vigna caracalla and that "Snail Vine" and "Corkscrew Vine" were the two common names? I checked the ITIS website and it says that Phaseolus caracalla is indeed a synonym for V. caracalla.

So, should there just be one listing in the database - Vigna caracalla, with Phaseolus caracalla listed as a synonym. I tried to make the change but it won't let me. Can one of the database moderators make the necessary changes?



Corkscrew Vine (Vigna caracalla)


If I'm wrong please forgive me and disregard the request, I get so confused sometimes with these botanical/scientific names.

I'll take care of it, Lin. Thanks so much for finding it.

Zuzu: You are welcome ... I use the ITIS website a lot but I wasn't sure if it was correct. There's sometimes a lot of conflicting information out there when it comes to plants and I sometimes don't know what's what.

There is a lot of conflicting information and it's sometimes maddening. ITIS and The Plant List contradict each other regularly, and I would use ITIS exclusively, but it doesn't include species growing on other continents, so it isn't a perfect source. I'm still looking for that perfect source.

LOL, I'm too old to look for the perfect source anymore. I used to know the scientific/botanical name of every plant I own but the older I get the more forgetful I seem to get. Sometimes I know that I know what plant I'm looking at ... but for the life of me I can't remember the name.

FYI these two are NOT the same. Vigna caracalla is scented. Phaseoulus caracalla has NO scent.

Just stumbled onto this thread.

Scented or not, taxonomists persist in calling Phaseolus caracalla a synonym for Vigna caracalla. Here's the latest info (28 September 2015):

http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

Cool. I have grown both at the same time and they are different aside from the scent. But whatever.

You can see the clear difference between them:



One day these will each once again get their own distinct species epithets.

The blooms sure look different to me! I'm getting seeds for from another ATP member for V. caracalla and I look forward to sowing them and growing them out.

I read that Prairie Vetch (Vigna speciosa) is often confused with V. caracalla but you can see the difference in the flower shape. http://www.hear.org/pier/image...

Uh @Dave - the pics are mislabeled?

We have a user here named Xeramtheum here. If you look for his name on this thread over at DG, he provides several items that categorically show they are NOT the same. Those are what I was alluding to above. I cannot believe the taxonomists cited above who say these are the same ever saw them compared or even grew them.

(I hope it is okay to post this here - sorry Dave - I have no idea of the long story. :-))

If someone showed me DNA evidence that they are the same, I would believe that they got some samples mixed up.

If the classification of P. caracalla as a synonym of V. caracalla dates back to 1970, as that thread suggests, it was not based on DNA testing, so we can only hope that DNA tests have been done or will be done to confirm or deny that reclassification. Until a change is recorded officially in a reliable taxonomic database, however, the two plants will share an entry in our database because our database is grounded in taxonomic sources.

Vignus caracalla has been misapplied for Wild Pea (Vigna adenantha) .
http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

I don't know these plants but perhaps this is still happening. I'll let you judge. Here are a few links.
Vigna adenantha
http://plants.usda.gov/core/pr...
http://plantillustrations.org/...

Vignus caracalla
http://plantgenera.org/species...

Well - I am out of here. They are not the same plant in this one humble man's opinion. :-)
And I have and do grow them.

I'm agreeing with you, David. I have grown them and I know they are two very different plants.