The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
Article 18.5 states: "The following names, of long usage, are treated as validly published: ....Leguminosae (nom. alt.: Fabaceae; type: Faba Mill. Vicia L.; ... When the Papilionaceae are regarded as a family distinct from the remainder of the Leguminosae, the name Papilionaceae is conserved against Leguminosae." English pronunciations are as follows: , and . commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s. It includes

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, and perennial or annual herbaceous plants, which are easily recognized by their fruit (

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

) and their compound, stipulate leaves. The family is widely distributed, and is the third-largest land plant family in number of species, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with about 765 genera and nearly 20,000 known species.Judd, W. S., Campbell, C. S. Kellogg, E. A. Stevens, P.F. Donoghue, M. J. (2002), Plant systematics: a phylogenetic approach, Sinauer Axxoc, 287-292. . The five largest genera of the family are '' Astragalus'' (over 3,000 species), ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' (over 1,000 species), '' Indigofera'' (around 700 species), '' Crotalaria'' (around 700 species), and '' Mimosa'' (around 400 species), which constitute about a quarter of all legume species. The ca. 19,000 known legume species amount to about 7% of flowering plant species. Fabaceae is the most common family found in tropical rainforests and dry forests of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and Africa. Recent molecular and morphological evidence supports the fact that the Fabaceae is a single

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

family.Lewis G., Schrire B., Mackinder B. and Lock M. 2005. (eds.) Legumes of the world. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Reino Unido. 577 pages. 2005. . This conclusion has been supported not only by the degree of interrelation shown by different groups within the family compared with that found among the Leguminosae and their closest relations, but also by all the recent phylogenetic studies based on DNA sequences.Doyle, J. J., J. A. Chappill, C.D. Bailey, & T. Kajita. 2000. Towards a comprehensive phylogeny of legumes: evidence from rbcL sequences and non-molecular data. pp. 1 -20 in Advances in legume systematics, part 9, (P. S. Herendeen and A. Bruneau, eds.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. These studies confirm that the Fabaceae are a monophyletic group that is closely related to the families Polygalaceae, Surianaceae and

Quillajaceae Quillajaceae is a family of flowering plants. It contains only two extant species, '' Quillaja brasiliensis'' and ''Quillaja saponaria ''Quillaja saponaria'', the soap bark tree or soapbark, is an evergreen tree in the family Quillajaceae, ...

and that they belong to the order Fabales. Along with the

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

s, some fruits and tropical roots, a number of Leguminosae have been a staple human food for millennia and their use is closely related to human evolution.Burkart, A. Leguminosas. ''In:'' Dimitri, M. 1987. ''Enciclopedia Argentina de Agricultura y Jardinería''. Tomo I. Descripción de plantas cultivadas. Editorial ACME S.A.C.I., Buenos Aires. pages: 467-538. The family Fabaceae includes a number of plants that are common in agriculture, including ''Glycine max'' ( soybean), ''

Phaseolus ''Phaseolus'' (bean, wild bean) is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica. It is one of the most economically importan ...

'' (beans), ''Pisum sativum'' (

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

), ''Cicer arietinum'' (

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high ...

s), ''Vicia faba'' ( broad bean), ''Medicago sativa'' (

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

), ''Arachis hypogaea'' ( peanut), ''

Ceratonia siliqua The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and lands ...

'' (carob), and '' Glycyrrhiza glabra'' (

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

). A number of species are also weedy

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

in different parts of the world, including: '' Cytisus scoparius'' (broom), '' Robinia pseudoacacia'' (black locust)'', Ulex europaeus'' (gorse), '' Pueraria montana'' (kudzu), and a number of '' Lupinus'' species.

Etymology

The name 'Fabaceae' comes from the defunct genus ''Faba'', now included in '' Vicia''. The term "faba" comes from Latin, and appears to simply mean "bean". Leguminosae is an older name still considered valid, and refers to the fruit of these plants, which are called

Description

Fabaceae range in habit from giant

s (like '' Koompassia excelsa'') to small annual

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, with the majority being herbaceous perennials. Plants have indeterminate inflorescences, which are sometimes reduced to a single flower. The flowers have a short hypanthium and a single carpel with a short gynophore, and after fertilization produce fruits that are legumes.

Growth habit

The Fabaceae have a wide variety of growth forms, including trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and even vines or

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

s. The herbaceous plants can be annuals,

biennials A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

, or perennials, without basal or terminal leaf aggregations. Many Legumes have tendrils. They are upright plants,

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s, or vines. The latter support themselves by means of shoots that twist around a support or through cauline or foliar tendrils. Plants can be heliophytes, mesophytes, or xerophytes.

Leaves

The leaves are usually alternate and compound. Most often they are even- or odd- pinnately compound (e.g. '' Caragana'' and '' Robinia'' respectively), often trifoliate (e.g. ''

Trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

'', ''

Medicago ''Medicago'' is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover, in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains at least 87 species and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean basin. The best-known member of the genus is ...

'') and rarely

palmate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

ly compound (e.g. '' Lupinus''), in the Mimosoideae and the Caesalpinioideae commonly bipinnate (e.g. ''

'', '' Mimosa''). They always have stipules, which can be leaf-like (e.g. '' Pisum''), thorn-like (e.g. '' Robinia'') or be rather inconspicuous. Leaf margins are entire or, occasionally, serrate. Both the leaves and the leaflets often have wrinkled pulvini to permit nastic movements. In some species, leaflets have evolved into tendrils (e.g. '' Vicia''). Many species have leaves with structures that attract ants which protect the plant from herbivore insects (a form of mutualism).

Extrafloral nectaries Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to anim ...

are common among the Mimosoideae and the Caesalpinioideae, and are also found in some Faboideae (e.g. '' Vicia sativa''). In some ''

'', the modified hollow stipules are inhabited by ants and are known as domatia.

Roots

Many Fabaceae host bacteria in their roots within structures called

root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, primarily legumes, that form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known a ...

s. These bacteria, known as

rhizobia Rhizobia are diazotrophic bacteria that fix nitrogen after becoming established inside the root nodules of legumes (Fabaceae). To express genes for nitrogen fixation, rhizobia require a plant host; they cannot independently fix nitrogen. In gene ...

, have the ability to take nitrogen gas (N₂) out of the air and convert it to a form of nitrogen that is usable to the host plant ( NO₃⁻ or NH₃ ). This process is called nitrogen fixation. The legume, acting as a host, and

, acting as a provider of usable nitrate, form a

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

relationship. Members of the

Phaseoleae The plant tribe Phaseoleae is one of the subdivisions of the legume subfamily Faboideae, in the unranked NPAAA clade. This group includes many of the beans cultivated for human and animal food, most importantly from the genera ''Glycine'', '' Ph ...

genus ''

Apios ''Apios'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is P ...

'' form tubers, which can be edible.

Flowers

The flowers often have five generally fused sepals and five free

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s. They are generally hermaphroditic and have a short hypanthium, usually cup-shaped. There are normally ten

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s and one elongated superior

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

, with a curved style. They are usually arranged in

indeterminate Indeterminate may refer to: In mathematics * Indeterminate (variable), a symbol that is treated as a variable * Indeterminate system, a system of simultaneous equations that has more than one solution * Indeterminate equation, an equation that ha ...

inflorescences. Fabaceae are typically entomophilous plants (i.e. they are pollinated by insects), and the flowers are usually showy to attract

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s. In the

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...

, the flowers are often zygomorphic, as in '' Cercis'', or nearly symmetrical with five equal petals, as in '' Bauhinia''. The upper petal is the innermost one, unlike in the Faboideae. Some species, like some in the genus '' Senna'', have asymmetric flowers, with one of the lower petals larger than the opposing one, and the style bent to one side. The calyx, corolla, or stamens can be showy in this group. In the

Mimosoideae The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals ...

, the flowers are actinomorphic and arranged in globose inflorescences. The petals are small and the stamens, which can be more than just 10, have long, coloured filaments, which are the showiest part of the flower. All of the flowers in an inflorescence open at once. In the Faboideae, the flowers are zygomorphic, and have a specialized structure. The upper petal, called the banner or standard, is large and envelops the rest of the petals in bud, often reflexing when the flower blooms. The two adjacent petals, the wings, surround the two bottom petals. The two bottom petals are fused together at the apex (remaining free at the base), forming a boat-like structure called the keel. The stamens are always ten in number, and their filaments can be fused in various configurations, often in a group of nine stamens plus one separate stamen. Various genes in the ''CYCLOIDEA (CYC)/DICHOTOMA (DICH)'' family are expressed in the upper (also called dorsal or adaxial) petal; in some species, such as '' Cadia'', these genes are expressed throughout the flower, producing a radially symmetrical flower.

Fruit

The ovary most typically develops into a

. A legume is a simple dry fruit that usually

dehisces Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...

(opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a "pod", although that can also be applied to a few other fruit types. A few species have evolved samarae,

loment A loment (or lomentum) is a type of dehiscent legume fruit that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between segments, so that each segment contains one seed. It is a type of schizocarp. Tick trefoil (''Desmodium'') and sweet vetch (''Hedysarum ...

s, follicles, indehiscent legumes,

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

s, and berries from the basic legume fruit.

Physiology and biochemistry

The Fabaceae are rarely

cyanogenic Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a ...

. Where they are, the cyanogenic compounds are derived from tyrosine,

phenylalanine Phenylalanine (symbol Phe or F) is an essential α-amino acid with the formula . It can be viewed as a benzyl group substituted for the methyl group of alanine, or a phenyl group in place of a terminal hydrogen of alanine. This essential amino a ...

or leucine. They frequently contain

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

. Proanthocyanidins can be present either as cyanidin or

delphinidine Delphinidin (also delphinidine) is an anthocyanidin, a primary plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. Delphinidin gives blue hues to flowers in the genera ''Viola'' and ''Delphinium''. It also gives the blue-red color of the grape that produces ...

or both at the same time.

Flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s such as kaempferol,

quercitin Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor a ...

and myricetin are often present. Ellagic acid has never been found in any of the genera or species analysed. Sugars are transported within the plants in the form of

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

C3 photosynthesis carbon fixation is the most common of three metabolic pathways for carbon fixation in photosynthesis, along with and CAM. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP, a 5-carbon sugar) into two molecules of 3-phospho ...

has been found in a wide variety of genera. The family has also evolved a unique chemistry. Many legumes contain toxic and indigestible substances, antinutrients, which may be removed through various processing methods. Pterocarpans are a class of molecules (derivatives of isoflavonoids) found only in the Fabaceae.

Forisome Forisomes are proteins occurring in the sieve tubes of Fabaceae. Their molecules are about 1-3 µm wide and 10-30 µm long. They expand and contract anisotropically in response to changes of electric field, pH, or concentration of Ca2+ ...

proteins are found in the sieve tubes of Fabaceae; uniquely they are not dependent on ADT.

Evolution, phylogeny and taxonomy

Evolution

The order Fabales contains around 7.3% of eudicot species and the greatest part of this diversity is contained in just one of the four families that the order contains: Fabaceae. This clade also includes the families Polygalaceae, Surianaceae and

and its origins date back 94 to 89 million years, although it started its diversification 79 to 74 million years ago. In fact, the Fabaceae have diversified during the early tertiary to become a ubiquitous part of the modern earth's

biota Biota may refer to: * Biota (ecology), the plant and animal life of a region * Biota (plant), common name for a coniferous tree, ''Platycladus orientalis'' * Biota, Cinco Villas, a municipality in Aragon, Spain * Biota (band), a band from Color ...

, along with many other families belonging to the flowering plants.Herendeen, P. S., W. L. Crepet, and D. L. Dilcher. 1992. The fossil history of the Leguminosae: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications. Pages 303 – 316 in Advances in Legume Systematics, part 4, the fossil record (P. S. Herendeen and D .L. Dilcher, eds). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. The Fabaceae have an abundant and diverse fossil record, especially for the Tertiary period. Fossils of flowers, fruit, leaves, wood and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

from this period have been found in numerous locations.Crepet, W. L., and P. S. Herendeen. 1992. Papilionoid flowers from the early Eocene of south eastern North America. Pages 43–55 in Advances in Legume Systematics, part 4, the fossil record (P. S. Herendeen and D. L. Dilcher, eds.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.Herendeen, P. S. 1992. The fossil history of Leguminosae from the Eocene of south eastern North America. Pages 85-160 in Advances in Legume Systematics, part 4, the fossil record (Herendeen, P. S., and D. L. Dilcher, eds.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.Herendeen, P. S. 2001. The fossil record of the Leguminosae: recent advances. In Legumes Down Under: the Fourth International Legume conference, Abstracts, 34–35. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.Herendeen, P. S., and S. Wing. 2001. Papilionoid legume fruits and leaves from the Palaeocene of north western Wyoming. Botany 2001 Abstracts, published by Botanical Society of America (http://www.botany2001.org/).Wing, S. L., F. Herrera, and C. Jaramillo. 2004. A Palaeocene flora from the Cerrajón Formation, Guajíra Peninsula, north eastern Colombia. Pages 146-147 in VII International Organization of Paleobotany Conference Abstracts (21–26 March). Museo Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina. The earliest fossils that can be definitively assigned to the Fabaceae appeared in the early

Palaeocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palai� ...

(approximately 65 million years ago). Representatives of the 3 sub-families traditionally recognised as being members of the Fabaceae – Cesalpinioideae, Papilionoideae and Mimosoideaeas well as members of the large clades within these sub-familiessuch as the genistoideshave been found in periods later, starting between 55 and 50 million years ago. In fact, a wide variety of taxa representing the main lineages in the Fabaceae have been found in the fossil record dating from the middle to the late Eocene, suggesting that the majority of the modern Fabaceae groups were already present and that a broad diversification occurred during this period. Therefore, the Fabaceae started their diversification approximately 60 million years ago and the most important clades separated 50 million years ago.Bruneau, A., Lewis, G. P., Herendeen, P. S., Schrire, B., & Mercure, M. 2008b. Biogeographic patterns in early-diverging clades of the Leguminosae. Pp. 98-99, in Botany 2008. Botany without Borders. otanical Society of America, Abstracts./ref> The age of the main Cesalpinioideae clades have been estimated as between 56 and 34 million years and the basal group of the Mimosoideae as 44 ± 2.6 million years. The division between Mimosoideae and Faboideae is dated as occurring between 59 and 34 million years ago and the basal group of the Faboideae as 58.6 ± 0.2 million years ago. It has been possible to date the divergence of some of the groups within the Faboideae, even though diversification within each genus was relatively recent. For instance, '' Astragalus'' separated from the '' Oxytropis'' 16 to 12 million years ago. In addition, the separation of the aneuploid species of ''Neoastragalus'' started 4 million years ago. '' Inga,'' another genus of the Papilionoideae with approximately 350 species, seems to have diverged in the last 2 million years.Wojciechowski, M. F. 2003. Reconstructing the phylogeny of legumes (Leguminosae): An early 21st century perspective. Pp. 5-35, in Klitgaard, B. B. & Bruneau, A. (eds), Advances in Legume Systematics, Part 10, Higher Level Systematics. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Wojciechowski, Martin F., Johanna Mahn, and Bruce Jones. 2006. Fabaceae. legumes. Version 14 June 2006
The Tree of Life Web Project
http://tolweb.org/ It has been suggested, based on fossil and phylogenetic evidence, that legumes originally evolved in arid and/or semi-arid regions along the

Tethys seaway The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...

during the Palaeogene Period. However, others contend that Africa (or even the

) cannot yet be ruled out as the origin of the family. The current hypothesis about the evolution of the genes needed for nodulation is that they were recruited from other pathways after a polyploidy event. Several different pathways have been implicated as donating duplicated genes to the pathways need for nodulation. The main donors to the pathway were the genes associated with the arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis genes, the pollen tube formation genes and the haemoglobin genes. One of the main genes shown to be shared between the arbuscular mycorrhiza pathway and the nodulation pathway is SYMRK and it is involved in the plant-bacterial recognition. The pollen tube growth is similar to the infection thread development in that infection threads grow in a polar manner that is similar to a pollen tubes polar growth towards the ovules. Both pathways include the same type of enzymes, pectin-degrading cell wall enzymes. The enzymes needed to reduce nitrogen, nitrogenases, require a substantial input of ATP but at the same time are sensitive to free oxygen. To meet the requirements of this paradoxical situation, the plants express a type of haemoglobin called leghaemoglobin that is believed to be recruited after a duplication event. These three genetic pathways are believed to be part of a gene duplication event then recruited to work in nodulation.

Phylogeny and taxonomy

Phylogeny

The phylogeny of the legumes has been the object of many studies by research groups from around the world. These studies have used morphology, DNA data (the

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...

intron An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is not expressed or operative in the final RNA product. The word ''intron'' is derived from the term ''intragenic region'', i.e. a region inside a gene."The notion of the cistron .e., gene. ...

''trnL'', the chloroplast genes ''rbcL'' and ''matK'', or the ribosomal spacers ''ITS'') and cladistic analysis in order to investigate the relationships between the family's different lineages. Fabaceae is consistently recovered as

. The studies further confirmed that the traditional subfamilies Mimosoideae and Papilionoideae were each

but both were nested within the paraphyletic subfamily Caesalpinioideae. All the different approaches yielded similar results regarding the relationships between the family's main clades. Following extensive discussion in the legume phylogenetics community, the Legume Phylogeny Working Group reclassified Fabaceae into six subfamilies, which necessitated the segregation of four new subfamilies from Caesalpinioideae and merging Caesapinioideae ''sensu stricto'' with the former subfamily Mimosoideae. The exact branching order of the different subfamilies is still unresolved.

Taxonomy

The Fabaceae are placed in the order Fabales according to most taxonomic systems, including the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

. The family now includes six subfamilies: * Cercidoideae: 12 genera and ~335 species. Mainly tropical. '' Bauhinia'', '' Cercis''. * Detarioideae: 84 genera and ~760 species. Mainly tropical. '' Amherstia'', ''

Detarium ''Detarium'' is a plant genus of the family Fabaceae. It contains 3 species of tree in west African forests. The genus produces timber that may serve as a mahogany substitute. The fruit is edible. References * Mabberley, D. J. (1987). ''Th ...

'', ''

Tamarindus Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae. ...

''. * Duparquetioideae: 1 genus and 1 species. West and Central Africa. ''

Duparquetia ''Duparquetia orchidacea'' is a liana which is native to tropical west Africa. It is the only species in the subfamily Duparquetioideae. It is found in humid tropical forests in West and Central Africa. It is a basal member of the Fabaceae ...

''. * Dialioideae: 17 genera and ~85 species. Widespread throughout the tropics. ''

Dialium ''Dialium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Dialioideae. Velvet tamarind is a common name for several species. Species , The Plant List accepts the following species: *'' Dialium angolense'' Oliv. *''Dialium au ...

''. *

: 148 genera and ~4400 species. Pantropical. '' Caesalpinia'', '' Senna'', '' Mimosa'', ''

''. Includes the former subfamily Mimosoideae (80 genera and ~3200 species; mostly tropical and warm temperate Asia and America). * Faboideae (Papilionoideae): 503 genera and ~14,000 species.

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

. '' Astragalus'', '' Lupinus'', '' Pisum''.

Ecology

Distribution and habitat

The Fabaceae have an essentially worldwide distribution, being found everywhere except Antarctica and the high Arctic. The trees are often found in tropical regions, while the herbaceous plants and shrubs are predominant outside the tropics.

Biological nitrogen fixation

Cross-section through root nodule of (Vicia spec

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF, performed by the organisms called diazotrophs) is a very old process that probably originated in the Archean eon when the primitive

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

lacked oxygen. It is only carried out by Euryarchaeota and just 6 of the more than 50

phyla Phyla, the plural of ''phylum'', may refer to: * Phylum, a biological taxon between Kingdom and Class * by analogy, in linguistics, a large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another Phyl ...

of bacteria. Some of these lineages co-evolved together with the

s establishing the molecular basis of a mutually beneficial

relationship. BNF is carried out in nodules that are mainly located in the root cortex, although they are occasionally located in the stem as in ''

Sesbania rostrata ''Sesbania rostrata'' is a small semi-aquatic leguminous tree, in the genus ''Sesbania''. It forms a symbiotic relationship with Gram-negative rhizobia which leads to the formation of nitrogen fixing nodules on both stem and roots. It is mainly u ...

''. The spermatophytes that co-evolved with actinorhizal diazotrophs ('' Frankia'') or with

to establish their symbiotic relationship belong to 11 families contained within the Rosidae

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

(as established by the gene molecular phylogeny of ''rbcL'', a gene coding for part of the RuBisCO enzyme in the

). This grouping indicates that the predisposition for forming nodules probably only arose once in flowering plants and that it can be considered as an ancestral characteristic that has been conserved or lost in certain lineages. However, such a wide distribution of families and genera within this lineage indicates that nodulation had multiple origins. Of the 10 families within the Rosidae, 8 have nodules formed by actinomyces ( Betulaceae, Casuarinaceae, Coriariaceae, Datiscaceae, Elaeagnaceae, Myricaceae,

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

and

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

), and the two remaining families, Ulmaceae and Fabaceae have nodules formed by rhizobia.Sprent, J. I. 2001. Nodulation in legumes. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. The rhizobia and their hosts must be able to recognize each other for nodule formation to commence. Rhizobia are specific to particular host species although a rhizobia species may often infect more than one host species. This means that one plant species may be infected by more than one species of bacteria. For example, nodules in ''

Acacia senegal ''Senegalia senegal'' (also known as ''Acacia senegal'') is a small thorny deciduous tree from the genus ''Senegalia'', which is known by several common names, including gum acacia, gum arabic tree, Sudan gum and Sudan gum arabic. In parts of In ...

'' can contain seven species of rhizobia belonging to three different genera. The most distinctive characteristics that allow rhizobia to be distinguished apart are the rapidity of their growth and the type of root nodule that they form with their host. Root nodules can be classified as being either indeterminate, cylindrical and often branched, and determinate, spherical with prominent lenticels. Indeterminate nodules are characteristic of legumes from temperate climates, while determinate nodules are commonly found in species from tropical or subtropical climates. Nodule formation is common throughout the Fabaceae. It is found in the majority of its members that only form an association with rhizobia, which in turn form an exclusive symbiosis with the Fabaceae (with the exception of ''Parasponia'', the only genus of the 18 Ulmaceae genera that is capable of forming nodules). Nodule formation is present in all the Fabaceae sub-families, although it is less common in the Caesalpinioideae. All types of nodule formation are present in the subfamily Papilionoideae: indeterminate (with the meristem retained), determinate (without meristem) and the type included in ''Aeschynomene''. The latter two are thought to be the most modern and specialised type of nodule as they are only present in some lines of the subfamily Papilionoideae. Even though nodule formation is common in the two

subfamilies Papilionoideae and Mimosoideae they also contain species that do not form nodules. The presence or absence of nodule-forming species within the three sub-families indicates that nodule formation has arisen several times during the evolution of the Fabaceae and that this ability has been lost in some lineages. For example, within the genus ''Acacia'', a member of the Mimosoideae, ''A. pentagona'' does not form nodules, while other species of the same genus readily form nodules, as is the case for ''Acacia senegal'', which forms both rapidly and slow growing rhizobial nodules.

Chemical ecology

A large number of species within many genera of leguminous plants, e.g. '' Astragalus'', '' Coronilla'', ''

Hippocrepis ''Hippocrepis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Etymology The name "Hippocrepis" comes from the Greek for "horse" () and for "shoe" (): literally, "horseshoe"; this is descriptive of the shape of the fruit segments in ...

'', '' Indigofera'', ''

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

'', ''

Securigera The genus ''Securigera'' contains a number of plant species commonly referred to as crownvetch. It is a segregate of the genus ''Coronilla The genus ''Coronilla'' contains 8 species of flowering plants native to Europe and North Africa. It c ...

'' and '' Scorpiurus'', produce chemicals that derive from the compound 3-nitropropanoic acid (3-NPA, beta-nitropropionic acid). The free acid 3-NPA is an

irreversible inhibitor An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and blocks its activity. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions necessary for life, in which substrate molecules are converted into products. An enzyme facilitates a sp ...

of mitochondrial respiration, and thus the compound inhibits the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This inhibition caused by 3-NPA is especially toxic to nerve cells and represents a very general toxic mechanism suggesting a profound ecological importance due to the big number of species producing this compound and its derivatives. A second and closely related class of secondary metabolites that occur in many species of leguminous plants is defined by isoxazolin-5-one derivatives. These compounds occur in particular together with 3-NPA and related derivatives at the same time in the same species, as found in ''Astragalus canadensis'' and ''Astragalus collinus''. 3-NPA and isoxazlin-5-one derivatives also occur in many species of leaf beetles (see

defense in insects Insects have a wide variety of predators, including bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic ...

Economic and cultural importance

Legumes are economically and culturally important plants due to their extraordinary diversity and abundance, the wide variety of edible vegetables they represent and due to the variety of uses they can be put to: in horticulture and agriculture, as a food, for the compounds they contain that have medicinal uses and for the oil and fats they contain that have a variety of uses.Allen, O. N., & E. K. Allen. 1981. The Leguminosae, A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses, and Nodulation. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, USA.Duke, J. A. 1992. Handbook of Legumes of Economic Importance. Plenum Press, New York, USA.Wojciechowski, M.F. 2006
Agriculturally & Economically Important Legumes.
Accessed 15 November 2008.

Food and forage

The history of legumes is tied in closely with that of human civilization, appearing early in Asia, the

(the common bean, several varieties) and Europe (broad beans) by 6,000 BCE, where they became a staple, essential as a source of protein. Their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen reduces fertilizer costs for farmers and gardeners who grow legumes, and means that legumes can be used in a crop rotation to replenish soil that has been depleted of nitrogen. Legume seeds and foliage have a comparatively higher protein content than non-legume materials, due to the additional nitrogen that legumes receive through the process. Legumes are commonly used as natural fertilizers. Some legume species perform hydraulic lift, which makes them ideal for intercropping. Farmed legumes can belong to numerous classes, including forage,

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

, blooms, pharmaceutical/industrial, fallow/green manure and timber species, with most commercially farmed species filling two or more roles simultaneously. There are of two broad types of forage legumes. Some, like

, clover, vetch, and '' Arachis'', are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock. Other forage legumes such as ''

Leucaena ''Leucaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as leadtrees. They are native to the Americas, ...

'' or '' Albizia'' are woody shrub or tree species that are either broken down by livestock or regularly cut by humans to provide

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

. Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, and are also called

pulses In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

. The seeds are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for industrial uses. Grain legumes include both herbaceous plants like

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s, lentils,

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

s and peanuts, and trees such as

carob The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscap ...

, mesquite and tamarind. '' Lathyrus tuberosus'', once extensively cultivated in Europe, forms tubers used for human consumption. Bloom legume species include species such as

, which are farmed commercially for their blooms, and thus are popular in gardens worldwide. '' Laburnum'', '' Robinia'', '' Gleditsia'' (honey locust), ''

'', '' Mimosa'', and ''

Delonix ''Delonix'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains trees that are native to Madagascar and East Africa. By far the best known species is the Royal Poinciana ('' D. regia''). The name o ...

'' are

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

s and

s. Industrial farmed legumes include '' Indigofera'', cultivated for the production of indigo, ''

'', for gum arabic, and ''

Derris ''Derris'' is genus of leguminous plants found in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific islands, including New Guinea. The roots of '' D. elliptica'' contain rotenone, a strong insecticide and fish poison. Despite the secondary compounds foun ...

'', for the insecticide action of rotenone, a compound it produces. Fallow or

green manure In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) manure. The primary goal ...

legume species are cultivated to be tilled back into the soil to exploit the high nitrogen levels found in most legumes. Numerous legumes are farmed for this purpose, including ''

'', ''

Cyamopsis ''Cyamopsis'' is a genus of the family Fabaceae. Its species are distributed across Africa, Asia and the Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the ...

'' and ''

Sesbania ''Sesbania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus found in tribe Sesbanieae. Riverhemp is a common name for plants in this genus. Notable species include the rattlebox ('' Sesbania punicea''), spiny sesb ...

''. Various legume species are farmed for timber production worldwide, including numerous ''

'' species, '' Dalbergia'' species, and ''

Castanospermum australe ''Castanospermum australe'' (Moreton Bay chestnut or blackbean), the only species in the genus ''Castanospermum'', is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the east coast of Australia in Queensland and New South Wales, and to the ...

''. Melliferous plants offer

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s and other insects to encourage them to carry pollen from the flowers of one plant to others thereby ensuring pollination. Many Fabaceae species are important sources of pollen and nectar for bees, including for honey production in the beekeeping industry. Example Fabaceae such as

, and various clovers including white clover and

sweet clover ''Melilotus'', known as melilot, sweet clover, and kumoniga (from the Cumans),Bulgarian Folk Customs, Mercia MacDermott, pg 27 is a genus in the family Fabaceae (the same family that also includes the ''Trifolium'' clovers). Members are known a ...

, are important sources of nectar and honey for the Western honey bee.

Industrial uses

Natural gums

Natural gum Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large increase in a solution's viscosity, even at small concentrations. They are mostly botanical gums, found in the woody elements of plants or in seed coatings. Human u ...

s are vegetable exudates that are released as the result of damage to the plant such as that resulting from the attack of an insect or a natural or artificial cut. These exudates contain heterogeneous

polysaccharide Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wa ...

s formed of different sugars and usually containing uronic acids. They form viscous colloidal solutions. There are different species that produce gums. The most important of these species belong to the Fabaceae. They are widely used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and textile sectors. They also have interesting therapeutic properties; for example gum arabic is antitussive and anti-inflammatory. The most well known gums are tragacanth (''Astragalus gummifer''), gum arabic (''

'') and guar gum (''

Cyamopsis tetragonoloba The guar or cluster bean, with the botanical name ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'', is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It is also known as gavar, gawar, or guvar bean. The origin of ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'' is unknown, since it has ...

'').Kuklinski, C. 2000. Farmacognosia : estudio de las drogas y sustancias medicamentosas de origen natural. Ediciones Omega, Barcelona.

Dyes

Several species of Fabaceae are used to produce dyes. The heartwood of logwood, ''

Haematoxylon campechianum ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is na ...

'', is used to produce red and purple dyes. The histological stain called haematoxylin is produced from this species. The wood of the Brazilwood tree (''

Caesalpinia echinata ''Paubrasilia echinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood ( pt, pau-de-pernambuco, ; ...

'') is also used to produce a red or purple dye. The Madras thorn (''

Pithecellobium dulce ''Pithecellobium dulce'', commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central A ...

'') has reddish fruit that are used to produce a yellow dye.Marquez, A. C., Lara, O.F., Esquivel, R. B. & Mata, E. R. 1999. Composición, usos y actividad biológica: Plantas medicinales de México II. UNAM. First edition. México, D.F. Indigo dye is extracted from the indigo plant '' Indigofera tinctoria'' that is native to Asia. In Central and South America dyes are produced from two species in the same genus: indigo and Maya blue from '' Indigofera suffruticosa'' and Natal indigo from ''

Indigofera arrecta ''Indigofera arrecta'', variously called the Bengal, Java, or Natal indigo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to SubSaharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Madagascar, and has been introduced to the Indian S ...

''. Yellow dyes are extracted from ''

Butea monosperma ''Butea monosperma'' is a species of '' Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the South Asia and Southeast Asia, ranging across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysi ...

'', commonly called flame of the forest and from dyer's greenweed, (''

Genista tinctoria ''Genista tinctoria'', the dyer's greenweed or dyer's broom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Its other common names include dyer's whin, waxen woad and waxen wood. The Latin specific epithet ''tinctoria'' means "used as a ...

'').

Ornamentals

Legumes have been used as ornamental plants throughout the world for many centuries. Their vast diversity of heights, shapes, foliage and flower colour means that this family is commonly used in the design and planting of everything from small gardens to large parks. The following is a list of the main ornamental legume species, listed by subfamily. * Subfamily Caesalpinioideae: ''

Bauhinia forficata ''Bauhinia forficata'', commonly known as Brazilian orchid tree, pata-de-vaca,, pezuña de vaca is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Peru , image_flag = Fl ...

'', ''

Caesalpinia gilliesii ''Erythrostemon gilliesii'' is a shrub in the legume family. It is commonly known as bird of paradise, but it is not related to the bird of paradise genus ''Strelitzia''. Description ''Erythrostemon gilliesii'' grows to 1–4 m tall, dependi ...

'', ''

Caesalpinia spinosa ''Tara spinosa'', commonly known as ''tara'' (Quechua), also known as Peruvian carob or spiny holdback, is a small leguminous tree or thorny shrub native to Peru. ''T. spinosa'' is cultivated as a source of tannins based on a galloylated quinic ...

'', ''

'', '' Cercis siliquastrum'', ''

Gleditsia triacanthos The honey locust (''Gleditsia triacanthos''), also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey ...

'', ''

Gymnocladus dioica The Kentucky coffeetree (''Gymnocladus dioicus''), also known as American coffee berry, Kentucky mahogany, nicker tree, and stump tree, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the legume family Fabaceae, native to the Midwest, Upper Sou ...

'', ''

Parkinsonia aculeata ''Parkinsonia aculeata'' is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree, palo de rayo, and retama. Etymology The genus name ...

'', ''

Senna multiglandulosa ''Senna multiglandulosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by several common names, including glandular senna, downy senna, and buttercup bush. It is native to Mexico, Guatemala, and western parts of South America, but ...

''.Macaya J. 1999
Leguminosas arbóreas y arbustivas cultivadas en Chile.
Chloris Chilensis Año 2. Nº1. * Subfamily Mimosoideae: ''

Acacia caven ''Vachellia caven'' (Roman cassie, , aromo criollo, caven, , , espinillo, espinillo de baado, espino, espino maulino) is an ornamental tree in the family Fabaceae. ''Vachellia caven'' is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uru ...

'', ''

Acacia cultriformis ''Acacia cultriformis'', known as the knife-leaf wattle, dogtooth wattle, half-moon wattle or golden-glow wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub of the genus ''Acacia'' native to Australia. It is widely cultivated, and has been found to have natu ...

'', '' Acacia dealbata'', ''

Acacia karroo ''Vachellia karroo'', commonly known as the sweet thorn, common acacia, Karoo thorn, Cape gum or cockspur thorn, is a species of ''Vachellia'', native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa. It is ...

'', ''

Acacia longifolia ''Acacia longifolia'' is a species of ''Acacia'' native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include lon ...

'', ''

Acacia melanoxylon ''Acacia melanoxylon'', commonly known as the Australian blackwood, is an ''Acacia'' species native in South eastern Australia. The species is also known as Blackwood, hickory, mudgerabah, Tasmanian blackwood, or blackwood acacia. The tree belon ...

'', ''

Acacia paradoxa ''Acacia paradoxa'' is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Its common names include kangaroo acacia, kangaroo thorn, prickly wattle, hedge wattle and paradox acacia. Description The large shrub or tree up to tall and has a similar width, it has ...

'', ''

Acacia retinodes ''Acacia retinodes'' is an evergreen shrub that is native plant, native to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Short racemes of yellow flowers are produced periodically throughout the year.

'', ''

Acacia saligna ''Acacia saligna'', commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family (biology), fami ...

'', ''

Acacia verticillata ''Acacia verticillata'' (prickly Moses; prickly-leaved wattle; star-leaved acacia; prickly mimosa; whorl-leaved acacia) is a perennial shrub to small tree native to south eastern Australia. Description The shrub or tree can grow to a maximum h ...

'', ''

Acacia visco ''Parasenegalia visco'' is a perennial tree found at higher elevations in northern Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. It has also been introduced to Africa. Common names for it include arca, visco, viscote, viscote blanco and viscote negro. It ...

'', ''

Albizzia julibrissin ''Albizia julibrissin'', the Persian silk tree, pink silk tree, or mimosa tree, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to southwestern Asia and eastern Asia. The genus is named after the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who i ...

'', ''

Calliandra tweediei ''Calliandra tweediei'' is a species of flowering plants of the genus ''Calliandra'' in the family Fabaceae. The plant is native to the Atlantic Forest ecoregion in southeastern Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Repu ...

'', ''

Paraserianthes lophantha ''Paraserianthes lophantha'' (syn. ''Albizia lophantha''), the Cape Leeuwin wattle, Bicol wattle, Cape wattle, crested wattle or plume albizia, is a fast-growing tree with creamy-yellow, bottlebrush like flowers. It is a small tree (uppermost hei ...

'', ''

Prosopis chilensis ''Prosopis chilensis'' is a species of tree in the genus ''Prosopis'', belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is found in parts of central Chile, southern Peru, Bolivia, and Andean (northwestern) Argentina. Its common names include Chilean mesqui ...

''. * Subfamily Faboideae: ''

Clianthus puniceus ''Clianthus puniceus'', common name kaka beak (''Kōwhai Ngutu-kākā'' in Māori language, Māori), is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Clianthus'' of the legume family (biology), family Fabaceae, native plant, native to New Zealand' ...

'', '' Cytisus scoparius'', ''

Erythrina crista-galli ''Erythrina crista-galli'', often known as the cockspur coral tree, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, not ...

'', ''

Erythrina falcata ''Erythrina falcata'', commonly known as the Brazilian coral tree, is a timber tree native to Atlantic Forest vegetation in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. This plant is also used as a medicinal plant and ornamental plant which is attractive to ...

'',''

Laburnum anagyroides ''Laburnum anagyroides'' ( syn. ''Cytisus laburnum''), the common laburnum, golden chain or golden rain, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae, and genus ''Laburnum''. '' Laburnum alpinum'' is closely related. It is native t ...

'', ''

Lotus peliorhynchus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

'', '' Lupinus arboreus'', ''

Lupinus polyphyllus ''Lupinus polyphyllus'', the large-leaved lupine, big-leaved lupine, many-leaved lupine, blue-pod lupine, or, primarily in cultivation, garden lupin, is a species of lupine (lupin) native to western North America from southern Alaska and Britis ...

'', ''

Otholobium glandulosum ''Otholobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family with over 50 named species, but several also remain undescribed sofar. Species may be herbaceous perennials, subshrubs, shrubs or small trees. The alternately set leaves are accompa ...

'','' Retama monosperma'', '' Robinia hispida'', ''

Robinia luxurians ''Robinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, tribe Robinieae, native to North America. Commonly known as locusts, they are deciduous trees and shrubs growing tall. The leaves are pinnate with 7–21 oval leaflets. The f ...

'', '' Robinia pseudoacacia'', ''

Sophora japonica ''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly included withi ...

'', ''

Sophora macnabiana ''Sophora'' is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species have a pantropical distribution. The generic name is derived from ''sophera'', an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree. The genus former ...

'',''

Sophora macrocarpa ''Sophora macrocarpa'' is a species of flowering tree or shrub of the genus ''Sophora'' of the family Fabaceae. It is commonly known as mayú or mayo, and is endemic to central and southern continental Chile. Description ''Sophora macrocarpa'' i ...

'', '' Spartium junceum'', ''

Teline monspessulana ''Genista monspessulana'', commonly known as French broom, Montpellier broom, or Cape broom (Australia), is a woody leguminous perennial shrub. The yellow-flowering bush is native to the Mediterranean region, and while it may still be commonly s ...

'', ''

Tipuana tipu ''Tipuana tipu'', also known as tipa, rosewood and pride of Bolivia, is a South American tree. It is the only member of the genus ''Tipuana''. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae ...

'', ''

Wisteria sinensis ''Wisteria sinensis'', commonly known as the Chinese wisteria, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, native to China, in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan. Growing tall, it is a deciduous v ...

''.

Emblematic Fabaceae

* The Cockspur Coral Tree (''

''), is the

National Flower of Argentina ''Erythrina crista-galli'', often known as the cockspur coral tree, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, not ...

and Uruguay.Ministerio de Educación de la Nación. Subsecretaría de Coordinación Administrativa
Día de la Flor Nacional "El Ceibo"
. Efemérides Culturales Argentinas. Consulted 3 March 2010. * The Elephant ear tree ('' Enterolobium cyclocarpum'') is the national tree of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, by Executive Order of 31 August 1959.Gilbert Vargas Ulate. 1997. Geografía turística de Costa Rica. EUNED, 180 p. , 9789977649009. * The Brazilwood tree (''

'') has been the national tree of Brazil since 1978."Lei Nº 6.607, de 7 de dezembro de 1978. O Presidente da República, faço saber que o Congresso Nacional decreta e eu sanciono a seguinte Lei: Art. 1º- É declarada Árvore Nacional a leguminosa denominada Pau-Brasil (''Caesalpinia echinata'', Lam), cuja festa será comemorada, anualmente, quando o Ministério da Educação e Cultura promoverá campanha elucidativa sobre a relevância daquela espécie vegetal na História do Brasil." * The Golden wattle '' Acacia pycnantha'' is

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

’s national flower. * The Hong Kong Orchid tree '' Bauhinia blakeana'' is the national flower of Hong Kong.

Image gallery

File:MG 7005.jpg, '' Acacia baileyana'' (Wattle) File:Starr 050419-0368 Alysicarpus vaginalis.jpg,

Loment A loment (or lomentum) is a type of dehiscent legume fruit that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between segments, so that each segment contains one seed. It is a type of schizocarp. Tick trefoil (''Desmodium'') and sweet vetch (''Hedysarum ...

s of ''

Alysicarpus ''Alysicarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is distributed in tropical and subtropical regionsChavan, S., et al. (2012)''Alysicarpus sanjappae'' (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), a new species from the Western G ...

vaginalis'' File:CalliandraEmarginata.JPG, '' Calliandra emarginata'' File:Cassia_leptophylla_tree.jpg, ''

Cassia leptophylla ''Cassia leptophylla'' is a tropical tree species in the genus ''Cassia (genus), Cassia'', which is indigenous (ecology), indigenous to Brazil. It is named gold medallion tree and has yellow flowers that bloom intermittently throughout the year, ...

'' tree File:Desmodium gangeticum W2 IMG 2776.jpg, '' Desmodium gangeticum'' File:Sickle Bush (Dichrostachys cinerea) in Hyderabad, AP W2 IMG 9903.jpg, '' Dichrostachys cinerea'' Sickle Bush File:Royal_Ponciana.jpg, ''

Delonix regia ''Delonix regia'' is a species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae native to Madagascar. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of orange-red flowers over summer. In many tropical par ...

'' tree File:Indigofera-gerardiana.JPG, ''

Indigofera gerardiana ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description Species of ''Indigofera'' are m ...

'' File:Lathyrus odoratus 5 ies.jpg, Tendrils of '' Lathyrus odoratus'' (Sweet pea) File:Arboreus infl.jpg, Inflorescence of '' Lupinus arboreus'' (Yellow bush lupin) File:Blauwschokker Kapucijner rijserwt Pisum sativum.jpg, '' Pisum sativum'' (Peas); note the leaf-like stipules File:Smithia conferta W IMG 2191.jpg, ''

Smithia conferta ''Smithia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade of the Dalbergieae The tribe Dalbergieae is an earl ...

'' File:Trifolium repens in Kullu distt W IMG 6655.jpg, '' Trifolium repens'' in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India. File:Vicia cassubica W.jpg, ''

Kashubian vetch ''Vicia cassubica'', called Kashubian vetch and Danzig vetch, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Vicia'', native to most of Europe, Turkey, the Levant, the Caucasus and Iran. Found in thermophilous oak forests, it also does well in ...

'' – Kashubia File:Zornia gibbosa W IMG 1666.jpg, ''

Zornia gibbosa ''Zornia'' is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs from the legume family Fabaceae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Adesmia'' clade of the Dalbergieae. Species ''Zornia'' comprises the following species: * '' Zornia acuta ...

'' File:Cytisus scoparius2.jpg, '' Cytisus scoparius'' (Scotch broom) File:Senna_pendula6.jpg, ''

Senna pendula ''Senna pendula'', also known as Easter Cassia, Christmas Senna, winter Senna, climbing Cassia, golden shower, pendant Senna and valamuerto, is a plant of the Fabaceae family with a shrub habit that is native to South America. It used in various ...

'' (Easter cassia) File:Fabaceae Stipulate Lotus Hosackia stipularis.jpg, ''

Hosackia stipularis ''Hosackia stipularis'', synonym ''Lotus stipularis'', is a species of legume endemic to California. It is known by the common name balsam bird's-foot trefoil. It is found in most of the northern and central coastal and inland mountain ranges an ...

'' (Stipulate Lotus) File:Fabaceae lupinus nanus sky lupine.jpg, ''

Lupinus manus ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

'' (Sky Lupine) File:Starr_071024-0313_Vigna_caracalla.jpg, ''

Vigna caracalla ''Cochliasanthus caracalla'' is a leguminous flowering plant in the family Fabaceae that originates in tropical South America and Central America. The species is named ''caracalla'', a corruption of the Portuguese caracol, meaning snail. Th ...

'' (snail vine) flowers File:Fabaceae Arroyo lupine succulent lupine lupinus succulentus.jpg, ''

Lupinus succulentus ''Lupinus succulentus'' is a species of lupine known by the common names hollowleaf annual lupine, arroyo lupine, and succulent lupine. It is native to California, where it is common throughout much of the state, and adjacent sections of Arizona ...

'' (Arroyo Lupine Succulent) File:Fabaceae harlequin lupine lupinus stiversii.jpg, ''

Lupinus stiversii ''Lupinus stiversii'' is a species of lupine known by the common names harlequin annual lupine and harlequin lupine. The plant was named for Army physician Dr. Charles Austin Stivers, who first collected it in 1862 near Yosemite. Distribution ' ...

'' (Harlequin Lupine) File:Virgilia_tree_Keurboom_-_Cape_Town_2.JPG, ''

Virgilia oroboides ''Virgilia'' is a genus of Southern African trees in the family Fabaceae that is known for its very fast growth (4.5m in 2 years) and a tendency to fall over as it matures (15 years or so). The common name in South Africa (in Afrikaans) is keurbo ...

'' (Cape lilac) mauve flowers

References

External links

Fabaceae
at th

LegumeWeb Database
at th
''International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS)''
{{Authority control Nitrogen cycle Extant Paleocene first appearances Rosid families Soil improvers