MP, also referred to as the velvet bean, is a legume that grows in tropical and subtropical areas across the world including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. Although the beans can be used as a source of food after they are boiled.
Mucuna pruriens is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 metres (50 feet) in length. When the plant is young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus-shaped or widely ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are pointy.