The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and economically 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. Many legumes have characteristic flowers and fruits. 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 751 genera and about 19,000 known species. The five largest of the genera are Astragalus, Acacia, Indigofera, Crotalaria, and Mimosa, 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 in dry forests in the Americas and Africa.
Cercis is a genus of about 10 species in the subfamily Cercidoideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to warm temperate regions. It contains small deciduous trees or large shrubs commonly known as redbuds. They are characterised by simple, rounded to heart-shaped leaves and pinkish-red flowers borne in the early spring on bare leafless shoots, on both branches and trunk ("cauliflory"). Cercis is derived from the Greek word κερκις (kerkis) meaning "weaver's shuttle", which was applied by Theophrastus to C. siliquastrum.
Bauhinia is a genus of more than 500 species of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and Johann, Swiss-French botanists.
Phanera vahlii is a perennial creeper of the family Caesalpiniaceae native to the Indian subcontinent.
The genus Tylosema is in the plant family Fabaceae and encompasses four accepted species of perennial legume native to southern and central Africa. These are semi-woody viniferous plants broadly distributed from Sudan and Ethiopia south to Angola and South Africa. Coetzer and Ross originally described four Tylosema species:
Gigasiphon is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. The genus is circumscribed is defined by "a long-tubular hypanthium, an arborescent habit, and a calyx divided into two lobes."
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 esculentum, a traditional food crop in 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.
Brenierea insignis is a species of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the sub family Cercidoideae and is the only member of the genus Brenierea.
Adenolobus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the sub family Cercidoideae.
Barklya is a genus of Australian trees in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The sole species is Barklya syringifolia, commonly known as the leather jacket or crown of gold tree. It grows in rainforest to 18 metres tall. Recorded from Queensland and New South Wales in vine forest and softwood scrub. It is often used as an ornamental. It may be extinct in New South Wales.
Griffonia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae. Griffonia is known to have a high concentration of 5-HTP in its seeds.
Lysiphyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae. It belongs to the sub family Cercidoideae. It was formerly treated as part of the genus Bauhinia, but recent molecular phylogenetic analysis confirms that Lysiphyllum is a distinct genus from Bauhinia.
Piliostigma is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae.
Piliostigma thonningii is a species of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae.
Lysiphyllum hookeri is a species of small tree endemic to Queensland, Australia, of the legume plant family Fabaceae. These trees are known by a variety of common names, including pegunny, alibangbang, Hooker's bauhinia, white bauhinia, mountain ebony and Queensland ebony.
Lasiobema is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, most of which are lianas. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae. It was recently synonymized with Phanera on the basis of morphology, but this move has been questioned.
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to northern Australia where it occurs from Western Australia through the Northern Territory to Queensland.
Lasiobema curtisii is a species of 'monkey ladder' lianas in the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae, the genus having been separated from Bauhinia but possibly synonymous with Phanera. Under its synonym, Bauhinia curtisii, records exist from Indo-China and Malesia; no subspecies were listed in the Catalogue of Life.
Lasiobema scandens is a species of 'monkey ladder' lianas in the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae, the genus having been separated from Bauhinia but possibly synonymous with Phanera. Under its synonym, Bauhinia scandens, records exist from the Indian subcontinent, Indo-China and Malesia. The Catalogue of Life listed two varieties which remain valid:
Lasiobema dolichobotrys is a species of 'monkey ladder' lianas in the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae, the genus having been separated from Bauhinia but possibly synonymous with Phanera. Under its synonym, Bauhinia cardinalis, records exist from Vietnam, where it is called móng bò đỏ, mấu hang or mấu tràm; no subspecies were listed in the Catalogue of Life.
