A loment (or lomentum) is a type of
dehiscent
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 ...
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 for ...
fruit that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between segments, so that each segment contains one seed.
It is a type of
schizocarp
A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps.
There are different definitions:
* Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate.
: Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...
.
[
Tick trefoil ('']Desmodium
''Desmodium'' is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover, hitch hikers or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time.
These are mostly ...
'') and sweet vetch (''Hedysarum
''Hedysarum'' (sweetvetch) is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbs in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.
Description
Species within genus ''Hedysarum'' may be herbace ...
'') are two genera that exhibit this fruit type, which is found particularly in the tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
Hedysareae
Hedysareae is a tribe of plants in the subfamily Faboideae. Hedysareae species have loments, a type of modified legume that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between the segments of the seeds.
Genera
The tribe consists of the following ge ...
of the family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
.
References
Fruit morphology
Fabaceae
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