Mung bean, also known as mung, moong, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy, is the seed of Vigna radiata which is native to India. The split bean is known as moong dal, which is green with the husk, and yellow when dehusked. The beans are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color. The English word "mung" derives from the Hindi moong. It is also known by the names hesaru bele (Kannada), moog (Marathi), payiru (Tamil), cheru payaru (Malayalam), pesalu (Telugu). In the Philippines, it is called munggo or monggo. In Cantonese it is called luk6 dao6 (綠豆).
The mung bean is one of many species recently moved from the genus Phaseolus to Vigna and is still often seen cited as Phaseolus aureus or Phaseolus radiatus. These are all the same plant.
