| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns
Reference: [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae]
Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.
Annual, perennial herb, shrub, unarmed
Leaves generally odd-1-pinnate (sometimes ± palmately compound, rarely some or most simple); stipules conspicuous or not; leaflets 3–many, often irregularly arranged
Inflorescence: umbel or 1–2-flowered, axillary, generally peduncled, often bracted
Flower: corolla generally yellow (sometimes white or pink), fading darker; 9 filaments fused, 1 free
Fruit dehiscent or not, exserted from calyx or not, ovoid to oblong, ± beaked
Seeds 1–several
Etymology: (Greek: derivation unclear)
Reference: [Isely 1981 Mem New York Bot Garden 25:128–206]
Spp. generally variable; intermediates may be hybrids. Key below separates natural groups.
| Introduced |
Perennial, ± glabrous or strigose
Stem decumbent or ascending
Leaf: stipules gland-like; leaflets 5, 5–20 mm, linear to obovate, 3 ± palmately arrayed at axis tip, lower 2 stipular in position
Inflorescence 3–8-flowered; peduncle bracted
Flower: calyx 2–3.5 mm, lobes ± = tube, not outcurved in bud; corolla 8–14 mm, bright yellow
Fruit dehiscent, 1.5–3.5 cm, narrowly oblong
Seeds few–several
Chromosomes: 2n=12,24
Ecology: Probably naturalized in open, disturbed areas
Elevation: < 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to n US; native to Eurasia
Flowering time: Jun–Sep
In Eur, diploid L. tenuis Willd. is segregated; it seems indistinguishable in CA.Some plants TOXIC by production of cyanide-releasing compounds .