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.
The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family.
Retama is a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae. Retama broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of southern Europe. Retama raetam and Retama monosperma have white flowers, while Retama sphaerocarpa has yellow flowers. It remains an open question in taxonomy whether the members of the genus Retama should be incorporated into the genus Genista.
Camoensia is a genus of 2 species of lianas in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, native to the Gulf of Guinea, Africa. C. scandens is cultivated as an ornamental plant; it has one of the largest leguminous flowers, up to 20 cm across. The genus has classically been assigned to the tribe Sophoreae, but was recently assigned to its own monophyletic tribe, Camoensieae, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence. Species of Camoensia are known to produce quinolizidine alkaloids, consistent with their placement in the genistoid clade.
Lebeckia is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae native to the fynbos of South Africa. Several members of Lebeckia were recently transferred to other genera. Members of Lebeckia are known to produce pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including ammodendrine, lebeckianine, and lupanine. The genus was named by Carl Thunberg for his student Heinrich Julius Lebeck.
Crotalarieae is a tribe of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. It includes rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), which is harvested for sale as a tisane.
Airyantha is a small genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It was named after the botanist Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw. It was traditionally assigned to the tribe Sophoreae; however, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses reassigned Airyantha into the Baphieae tribe.
The tribe Brongniartieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae, primarily found in tropical regions of the Americas and in Australia The members of this tribe consistently form a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The tribe does not currently have a node-based definition, but morphological synapomorphies have been identified:
"stamens united by filaments in an adaxially open tube; anthers alternately long and basifixed, short and versatile; anther connective inconspicuous; septa present between seeds in pods; aril lateral lobe present and fitting into heel of funicle; fine red glandular processes present in axils; and pollen tricolporate with opercula and no definite endoaperture."
The tribe Dalbergieae is an early-branching clade within the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae. Within that subfamily, it belongs to an unranked clade called the dalbergioids. It was recently revised to include many genera formerly placed in tribes Adesmieae and Aeschynomeneae and to be included in a monophyletic group informally known as the dalbergioids sensu lato. The members of this tribe have a distinctive root nodule morphology, often referred to as an "aeschynomenoid" or "dalbergioid" nodule.
The tribe Dipterygeae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. It was recently recircumscribed to include the following genera:
The tribe Podalyrieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae.
The tribe Sophoreae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather than zygomorphic floral symmetry and/or incompletely differentiated petals and free stamens. Various morphological and molecular analyses indicated that Sophoreae as traditionally circumscribed was polyphyletic. This led to a re-circumscription of Sophoreae, which resulted in the transfer of many genera to other tribes. This also necessitated the inclusion of two former tribes, Euchresteae and Thermopsideae, in the new definition of Sophoreae. Tribe Sophoreae, as currently circumscribed, consistently forms a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The Sophoreae arose 40.8 ± 2.4 million years ago.
The tribe Swartzieae is an early-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather than zygomorphic floral symmetry and/or incompletely differentiated petals and free stamens. It was recently revised and most of its genera were redistributed to other tribes. Under its new circumscription, this clade is consistently resolved in molecular phylogenies. Members of this tribe possess "non-papilionate swartzioid flowers[…]largely characterized by a tendency to lack petals combined with a profusion and elaboration of free stamens" and a "lack of unidirectional order in the initiation of the stamens". They also have "complete or near complete fusion of sepals resulting from intercalary growth early in development, relatively numerous stamens, and a single or no petal, with other petals not at all apparent in development." The tribe is predicted to have diverged from the other legume lineages 48.9±2.8 million years ago.
The inverted repeat-lacking clade (IRLC) is a monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae. Faboideae includes the majority of agriculturally-cultivated legumes. The name of this clade is informal and is not assumed to have any particular taxonomic rank like the names authorized by the ICBN or the ICPN. The clade is characterized by the loss of one of the two 25-kb inverted repeats in the plastid genome that are found in most land plants. It is consistently resolved in molecular phylogenies. The clade is predicted to have diverged from the other legume lineages 39.0±2.4 million years ago. It includes several large, temperate genera such as Astragalus, Hedysarum, Medicago, Oxytropis, Swainsona, and Trifolium.
The tribe Amburaneae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. It has been circumscribed to include the following genera, which used to be placed in tribes Sophoreae and Swartzieae:
The Cladrastis clade is a monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae that is found in eastern Asia and southern North America. It is consistently resolved in molecular phylogenies and is sister to the Meso-Papilionoideae. Evidence for the existence of this clade was first proposed based on morphological (floral), cytological, and biochemical evidence. It is predicted to have diverged from the other legume lineages 47.4±2.6 million years ago.
The tribe Ormosieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae, primarily found in tropical regions of the Americas, but also in southeast Asia and northern Australia. The members of this tribe were formerly included in tribe Sophoreae, but were recently circumscribed into a new tribe. The members of this tribe consistently form a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The tribe does not currently have a node-based definition, but morphological synapomorphies have been tentatively identified: "mostly dehiscent pods with woody valves" and "tufts of minute colleter-like glands in the axils of bract and bracteoles". Like other genistoids, members of tribe Ormosieae are known to produce quinolizidine alkaloids.
The Genistoids are one of the major radiations in the plant family Fabaceae. Members of this phylogenetic clade are primarily found in the Southern hemisphere. Some genera are pollinated by birds. The genistoid clade is consistently resolved as monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It is estimated to have arisen 56.4 ± 0.2 million years ago. A node-based definition for the genistoids is: "the MRCA of Poecilanthe parviflora and Lupinus argenteus." One morphological synapomorphy has been tentatively identified: production of quinolizidine alkaloids. Some genera also accumulate pyrrolizidine. A new genus, to be segregated from Clathrotropis, has also been proposed to occupy an undetermined position within the genistoid clade.
The dalbergioids are an early-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionaceae. They are pantropical, particularly being found in the neotropics and sub-Saharan Africa. This clade is consistently resolved as monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It is estimated to have arisen 55.3 ± 0.5 million years ago. A node-based definition for the dalbergioids is: "The least inclusive crown clade that contains Amorpha fruticosaL. 1753 and Dalbergia sissooRoxb. ex DC. 1825." Indehiscent pods may be a morphological synapomorphy for the clade.
The Mirbelioids are an informal subdivision of the plant family Fabaceae that includes the former tribes Bossiaeeae and Mirbelieae. They are consistently recovered as a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenies. The Mirbelioids arose 48.4 ± 1.3 million years ago. Members of this clade are mostly ericoid (sclerophyllous) shrubs with yellow and red flowers found in Australia, Tasmania, and Papua-New Guinea. The name of this clade is informal and is not assumed to have any particular taxonomic rank like the names authorized by the ICBN or the ICPN. Members of this clade exhibit unusual embryology compared to other legumes, either enlarged antipodal cells in the embryo sac or the production of multiple embryo sacs. There has been a shift from bee pollination to bird pollination several times in this clade. Mirbelioids produce quinolizidine alkaloids, but unlike most papilionoids, they do not produce isoflavones. Many of the Mirbelioids have pseudoraceme inflorescences.
