Legumes

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant.  When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse.  Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure.  Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, peas, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover.  Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides.