Fabaceae - the legume family

Vegetative Features Leaves alternate, compound, with stipules Some are twining vines Root nodules

Reproductive Features Flowers with a banner, wings, and a keel Androecium of 9 fused stamens and one free stamen Pistil simple Fruit a legume

Economic Importance The third largest family of flowering plants The second most economically important Source of peas, beans, alfalfa, clover Nitrogen fixation Source of indigo dye

nodules fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to the plants Rhizobium bacteria dwelling in the root nodules fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to the plants lev70065_bx13_01.jpg

Legumes are a major source of complex carbohydrate, fiber, protein, and such minerals as potassium, magnesium, and zinc. In addition, they are low in fat.

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Peanuts Arachis hypogea Native of South America; introduced to Europe, from there to Africa, from Africa to U.S. with slave trade. After pollination, the fruit develops into a legume 1 to 2 in long, containing 1 to 4 seeds, which forces its way underground to mature.

The fruit of the peanut plant is a woody, indehiscent legume and not a nut at all! Botanically speaking, the fruit of the peanut plant is a woody, indehiscent legume and not a nut.

When you eat peanuts, you’re eating cotyledons The large seeds have two large cotyledons (seed leaves) that make up most of the seed, filled with stored food. There is no endosperm at maturity, the good reserves having been translocated into the cotyledons. They are rich in oil and protein. When you eat peanuts, you’re eating cotyledons

George Washington Carver, 1864-1943 Much of Carver's fame is based on his research into and promotion of crops as alternatives to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their quality of life. In the Reconstruction South, an agricultural monoculture of cotton depleted the soil, and in the early 20th century the boll weevil destroyed much of the cotton crop. Carver's work on peanuts was intended to provide an alternative crop. Carver also created or disseminated about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm, including cosmetics, dyes, paints, plastics gasoline, and nitroglycerin. George Washington Carver, 1864-1943

Soybeans Glycine max Native of China; introduced into the US in 1765. Now one of the most valuable crops in the United States, grown in Midwest and South. Uses: a Oil used for cooking oil, salad dressing, margarine, shortening, mayonnaise. b Oil cake is rich in protein, used for animal feed, also to make textured vegetable protein (TVP), used as meat substitute for humans, can be spun or shaped in many ways, flavored to taste like any meat. c soy sauce = fermented soybeans and grain in brine d tofu = soy milk curds

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Indigofera tinctoria, the indigo plant

Alfalfa - Widely cultivated as a nutritious animal feed Alfalfa is the fourth most widely grown crop in the United States, with an estimated annual value of 11.7 billion dollars. There are 26 million acres cut for hay with an average yield of 2.3 tons per acre. One of the most important characteristics of alfalfa is its high nutritional quality. Alfalfa contains between 15 to 22% crude protein as well as high amounts of 10 different vitamins. Alfalfa can be a very productive crop with high levels of biomass accumulation. The record yield of one acre of alfalfa is 10 tons. Alfalfa hay is used as a feed primarily for dairy cows but also for horses, beef cattle, sheep, and other farm animals.