FABACEAE - BEAN FAMILY
Scientific Description:
Woody or herbaceous. Leaves alternate, usually stipulate, bipinnate, simply pinnate, digitate, trifoliolate or simple (often unifoliolate or phyllodic). Flowers actinomorphic or zygomorphic, hypogynous or sometimes perigynous, usually hermaphrodite, and in racemes, spikes or umbels or solitary. Sepals (4−)5, the odd sepal always anterior. Petals (l−)5, valvate or imbricate in bud, free or rarely partially connivent. Stamens 4-many, usually 10, all united in a tube (monadelphous) or with the upper stamen free (diadelphous), or all free. Carpel 1, superior, with marginal placentation. Fruit a legume (i.e. dehiscing along both ventral (ovuliferous) and dorsal (non-ovuliferous) sutures), or indehiscent, sometimes fragmenting into 1-seeded portions (lomentum). Seeds 1-many.
Reference:
Davis PH (1972). Leguminosae, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 1.
Public Description:
The “bean famiy” contains perennial trees and shrubs or annual herbaceous plants in almost worldwide. The group is the third-largest land plant family in terms of number of species. The term "faba" comes from Latin, and appears to simply mean "bean". Legumes are economically and culturally important plants due to their wide variety of edible vegetables. In addition to its use as vegetable, oil, dyes and natural gums are also obtained.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabaceae/, Accessed date: 09.02.2016.
Anonymous 2 (2016). http://www.britannica.com/plant/Fabaceae/, Accessed date: 09.02.2016.
Anonymous 3 (2016). http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/fab.htm/, Accessed date: 09.02.2016.
