Native to tropical Africa and Asia, Mucuna pruriens has naturalized throughout the American tropics and is cultivated in warm regions worldwide as a cover crop and forage plant. The species epithet pruriens is Latin for irritating, a fair description of the stiff, barbed hairs covering the seed pods, which cause genuine skin discomfort on contact. As a summer annual, it climbs vigorously to 8 feet or sprawls across open ground, fixing atmospheric nitrogen through root nodules and building organic matter as the season progresses.

For the kitchen garden or vegetable plot, velvetbean sown in spring after last frost will outcompete most weeds by midsummer, suppress certain soil nematodes including the southern root-knot nematode, and improve soil structure ahead of the following season. Dwarf bush cultivars are easier to manage than the vining types in confined beds. Cut the crop at flowering to avoid contact with the irritating pods, and till the biomass under while it is still green.