Description of Family: Fabaceae

• Ex: Ground Nut;

• Scientific Name: Arachis hypogaea

• This family was earlier called Papilionoideae, a subfamily of family Leguminosae. It is distributed all over the world.

Vegetative characters:

• Trees, shrubs, herbs; root with root nodules

• Stem: erect or climber

• Leaves: alternate, pinnately compound or simple; leaf base,

• pulvinate; stipulate; venation reticulate.

Floral Characters:

• Inflorescence: racemose

• Flower: bisexual, zygomorphic

• Calyx: sepals five, gamosepalous; valvate/imbricate aestivation.

• Corolla: petals five, polypetalous, papilionaceous, consisting of a posterior standard, two lateral wings, two anterior ones forming a keel (enclosing stamens and pistil), vexillary aestivation

• Androecium: ten, diadelphous, anther dithecous.

• Gynoecium: ovary superior, mono carpellary, unilocular with many ovules, style single

• Fruit: legume; seed: one to many, non-endospermic

Economical Importance:

Many plants belonging to the family are sources of pulses (gram, arhar, sem, moong, soyabean; edible oil (soyabean, groundnut); dye (Indigofera); fibers (sunhemp); fodder (Sesbania, Trifolium), ornamentals (lupin, sweet

pea); medicine (muliathi).

Note: Savinay Kumar JC

• Scientific Name of Pea Plant is Pisum sativum.

• Scientific Name of the Makoi Plant is Solanum nigrum.