5.9 Description of Some Important Families

5.9.1 Fabaceae

This family was earlier called Papilionoideae, a subfamily of family Leguminosae. It is distributed all over the world (Figure 5.21).

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

Floral formula: % 

Economic importance

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