FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

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.

GLYCYRRHIZA

LICORICE

Duane Isely

Perennial, unarmed or ± prickly on axes, fruit, sometimes glandular-hairy
Leaves odd-1-pinnate; stipules deciduous; leaflets gland-dotted
Inflorescence: raceme, spike-like, axillary
Flower: calyx lobes unequal, < or ± = tube; corolla white-yellow to blue; 9 filaments fused, 0 or 1 free
Fruit indehiscent, ellipsoid, prickly or rarely glabrous
Species in genus: ± 20 species: especially Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: sweet root)
Several species cultivated.

Native

G. lepidota Pursh

WILD LICORICE

Plant glabrous to very glandular-hairy
Leaf: leaflets 9–19, lanceolate to narrowly ovate
Inflorescence dense
Flower: corolla 9–14 mm, yellowish or greenish-white
Fruit 12–15 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Ecology: Moist, generally open, disturbed sites, such as creekbanks, roadsides
Elevation: < 2400 m.
Bioregional distribution: California
Distribution outside California: to c US, Canada, Mexico
Flowering time: May–Jul
Horticultural information: DRN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 &IRR: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; INV; DFCLT; STBL.