''Pueraria'' is a genus of 15–20 species of legumes native to Asia. The best known member is kudzu, also called Japanese arrowroot. The genus is named after 19th century Swiss botanist Marc Nicolas Puerari. The genus, as traditionally circumscribed, is polyphyletic, with different species being more related to other species in the tribe Phaseoleae. Current research, reproduced below, splits the genus into five clades, one of which defines the current monophyletic genus.

Species

The genus ''Pueraria'' is highly polyphyletic; the below list is divided by clade following the result of A.N.Egan & B.Pan (2016).Earlier version, 2013 MSc thesis.
/ref> In 2015, the authors Validly published name, validly published their proposal in ''Phytotaxa''. , Kew Plants of the World Online database accepts these names.

''Pueraria'' sensu stricto

''Pueraria'' sensu stricto includes the vast majority of species in the genus. They fall into a single clade sister to or containing ''Nogra''. * Pueraria alopecuroides, ''P. alopecuroides'' Craib * Pueraria calycina, ''P. calycina'' Franch. * Pueraria candollei, ''P. candollei'' Benth. * ''Pueraria edulis, P. edulis'' Pamp. * Pueraria imbricata, ''P. imbricata'' Maesen * Pueraria lacei, ''P. lacei'' Craib * ''Pueraria mirifica, P. mirifica'' Airy Shaw & Suvat. (= Pueraria candollei var. mirifica, ''P. candollei'' var. ''mirifica'' in Egan) * ''Pueraria montana, P. montana'' (João de Loureiro, Lour.) Elmer Drew Merrill, Merr. – US invasive population comes from a hybrid of more than one of the subspecies. **Pueraria montana var. chinensis, ''Pueraria montana'' var. ''chinensis'' (Ohwi) Sanjappa & Pradeep (= ''P. chinensis'', although ILDS and the plant list instead consider ''P. thomsonii'' the synonym) **Pueraria montana var. lobata, ''Pueraria montana'' var. ''lobata'' (Willd.) Sanjappa & Pradeep (= ''P. lobata'') **Pueraria montana var. thomsonii, ''Pueraria montana'' var. ''thomsonii'' (Benth.) Wiersema ex D.B. Ward (= ''P. thomsonii'', missing in ILDS) * Pueraria pulcherrima, ''P. pulcherrima'' (Koord.) Koord.-Schum. * Pueraria sikkimensis, ''P. sikkimensis'' Prain * ''Pueraria tuberosa, P. tuberosa'' (Roxb.ex Willd.) DC. – type species

Provisionally retained

The following are not included in the 2016 study due to insufficient material for sequencing. They are accepted by POWO. *''Pueraria bella, P. bella'' Prain: conflicting proposals assigning either to the main clade or to ''Neonotonia'' (morphology). * Pueraria bouffordii, ''P. bouffordii'' H. Ohashi: presumably in the main clade (morphology). * Pueraria grandiflora, ''P. grandiflora'' Bo Pan & Bing Liu: presumably in the main clade (morphology). * Pueraria xyzhuii, ''P. xyzhuii'' H. Ohashi & Iokawa: presumably in the main clade (morphology). The following are not included in Egan et al. 2016 for other reasons, but are accepted by Kew POWO: * ''P. garhwalensis'' L.R.Dangwal & D.S.Rawat: excluded per van der Maesen (2002) * ''P. neocaledonica'' Harms: not mentioned * ''P. maesenii'' Niyomdham: not mentioned

Former members

The rest of the genus fall into four clades, sorted by distance from the main clade: * ''Neustanthus'' Benth. – sister to ''Sinodolichos'' ** ''Pueraria phaseoloides, P. phaseoloides'' (William Roxburgh, Roxb.) George Bentham, Benth. → Neustanthus phaseoloides, ''N. phaseoloides'' (Roxb.) Benth.

''P. edulis'', ''P. montana'', and ''N. phaseoloides'' make up what is known as kudzu. The morphological differences between these species are subtle.

*** ''N. phaseoloides'' var. ''javanicus'' (= ''P. javanica'' (Benth.) Benth.) *** ''N. phaseoloides'' var. ''phaseoloides'' *** ''N. phaseoloides'' var. ''subspicatus'' * ''Teyleria'' ** Pueraria stricta, ''P. stricta'' Kurz → Tayleria stricta, ''T. stricta'' * ''Toxicopueraria'' A.N.Egan & B.Pan – sister to ''Cologania'' ** Pueraria peduncularis, ''P. peduncularis'' Grah. → Toxicopueraria peduncularis, ''T. peduncularis'' ** Pueraria yunnanensis, ''P. yunnanensis'' Franchet.→ Toxicopueraria yunnanensis, ''T. yunnanensis'' * ''Haymondia'' A.N.Egan & B.Pan – notably lies out of Glycininae near Kennediinae; known for a long time to be misplaced ** ''Pueraria wallichii, P. wallichii'' DC. → Haymondia wallichii, ''H. wallichii'' The following names are not accepted even before Egan 2016 but have seen valid publication: * ''P. omeiensis'' Wang et Tang – ''P. montana'': unaccepted name after Mount Omei. * ''P. stracheyi'' Baker → ''Apios carnea'' (Wall.) Benth. ex Baker. * ''P. maclurei'' (F. P. Metcalf) F. J. Herm. → ''Sinodolichos lagopus'' – still accepted by WFO

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133126 Pueraria, Fabaceae genera Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle