Dolichos

(dol'e-los.) [Gr.,long.) (Bot.) A gen. of the 0. Fabaceæ, consisting of herbaceous or shrubby plants which have trifoliate leaves and generally twining stems, but are chiefly distinguished by extension of the base of the standard so as to embrace the wings of the corolla at their base. Some species have beautiful flowers, and some are cultivated on account of their seeds, which afford a kind of pulse; or of their young pods, which, like those of the Kidney Bean, are boiled for the table. [s. 296]