The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important family of flowering plants. It includes trees, shrubs, and perennial or annual herbaceous plants, which are easily recognized by their fruit (legume) 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.
Pterocarpus is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of Pterocarpus yield valuable timber traded as padauk, usually pronounced or ; other common names are mukwa or narra. The west African species may be traded as African rosewood. P. santalinus also yields the most precious red sandalwood in China known as Zitan. The wood from the narra tree and the Burmese padauk tree is marketed as amboyna when it has grown in the burl form. The scientific name is Latinized Ancient Greek and means "wing fruit", referring to the unusual shape of the seed pods in this genus.
In biological classification, a subfamily is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zoological subfamily names with "-inae".
African mahogany is a marketing name for several African trees whose wood has properties similar to New World mahogany species.
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, spiny sesbania, and Sesbania sesban, which is used in cooking. Plants of this genus, some of which are aquatic, can be used in alley cropping to increase the soil's nitrogen content. The species of rhizobia responsible for nitrogen fixation in Sesbania rostrata is Azorhizobium caulinodans.
The subfamily Detarioideae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae (legumes). This subfamily includes many tropical trees, some of which are used for timber or have ecological importance. The subfamily consists of 84 genera, most of which are native to Africa and Asia. Pride of Burma and tamarind are two of the most notable species in Detarioideae. It has the following clade-based definition:
The most inclusive crown clade containing Goniorrhachis marginataTaub. and Aphanocalyx cynometroidesOliv., but not Cercis canadensisL., Duparquetia orchidaceaBaill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides(Harms) J. H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema.
Intsia bijuga, commonly known as Borneo teak, Johnstone River teak, Kwila, Moluccan ironwood, Pacific teak, scrub mahogany and vesi, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indo-Pacific. It ranges from Tanzania and Madagascar east through India and Queensland, Australia, Papua New Guinea to the Pacific islands of Fiji and Samoa. It grows to around 50 metres tall with a highly buttressed trunk. It inhabits mangrove forests. Intsia bijuga differ from Intsia palembanica in the number of leaflets that make up their compound leaves.
Anthonotha is a genus within the subfamily Detarioideae of the plant family Fabaceae.
Baikiaea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes six species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa. Species range from Nigeria eastwards to Uganda and Tanzania and south to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Habitats range from lowland tropical rain forest to seasonally dry forest and woodland or savannas on well-drained soils.
Bussea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes seven species of trees and occasionally shrubs native to sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Guinea to Ghana in West Africa, from Gabon and Angola to Tanzania and Mozambique in central Africa, and to Madagascar. Habitats include seasonally-dry tropical forests and thickets, moist semi-deciduous forests, and evergreen rain forest.
Englerodendron is a small genus of legumes belonging to the family Fabaceae, that are native to tropical Africa.
Kotschya is a genus of legumes in the family Fabaceae. It includes 30 species native to sub-Saharan Africa. The genus was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade of the Dalbergieae. It contains the following species:
Ormocarpum is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 17 species native to tropical and southern Africa and parts of India, Indochina, Malesia, Papuasia, and the South Pacific. The genus was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade of the Dalbergieae.
Afzelia africana, the African mahogany, afzelia, lenke, lengue, apa, or doussi, is a Myrmecophyte tree species in the family Fabaceae.
Newtonia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 16 species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa. It belongs to subfamily Caesalpinioideae and the Mimosoid clade or tribe. The genus is known from the early Miocene of Ethiopia based on compressions of its diagnostic, winged seeds.
Cercidoideae is a subfamily in the pea family, Fabaceae. Well-known members include Cercis (redbuds), including species widely cultivated as ornamental trees in the United States and Europe, Bauhinia, widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in tropical Asia, and Tylosema, a semi-woody genus of Africa. The subfamily occupies a basal position within the Fabaceae and is supported as monophyletic in many molecular phylogenies. At the 6th International Legume Conference, the Legume Phylogeny Working Group proposed elevating the tribe Cercidae to the level of subfamily within the Leguminosae (Fabaceae). The consensus agreed to the change, which was fully implemented in 2017. It has the following clade-based definition:
The most inclusive crown clade containing Cercis canadensisL. and Bauhinia divaricataL. but not Poeppigia proceraC.Presl, Duparquetia orchidaceaBaill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides(Harms) J.H.Kirkbr. & Wiersema.
Stemonocoleus micranthus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is a tree native to western and west-central tropical Africa, ranging from Côte d'Ivoire to the Central African Republic and Republic of the Congo. It is a tree of the Guineo-Congolian forest, growing to 150 feet (46 m) high, with straight bole and buttresses. It is the sole species in genus Stemonocoleus. It belongs to subfamily Detarioideae.
Aphanocalyx is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Detarioideae. It includes 14 species native to tropical Africa, ranging from Sierra Leone to Côte d'Ivoire, and from Cameroon to Angola and Tanzania.
Wallaceodendron celebicum is species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is a tree native to the Philippines and Sulawesi. Typical habitat is tropical coastal and inland rain forest from sea level to 850 meters elevation. It is the sole species in genus Wallaceodendron. The genus belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae.
Tetrapleura is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the family Fabaceae. It includes two species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal to Kenya and Tanzania, and south to Angola. They grow in tropical lowland rain forest, secondary thicket, and fringing forest in the Guineo-Congolian forest and Lake Victoria basin.
