CHAPTER XL 

 LEGUMES 



THE botanical family, Leguminosaa, comprises some 10,000 

 species. The distinguishing feature is that the seeds are borne in a 

 pod or legume. The family as a whole is mostly found in the 

 tropics, but at least some species are found in practically all parts of 

 the globe where plants grow. About one-fourth of the Leguminosae 

 are large trees, such as the honey locust or coffee tree. The rest are 

 shrubs or herbaceous plants. 



The family is divided into three groups, one of which is known 

 as the Papilionacece or pea family. The Latin name comes from 

 papilio, meaning a butterfly, because the flowers somewhat resemble 

 a butterfly in appearance. Practically all the legumes grown for 

 forage belong to this group, and most of the legumes discussed in 

 agricultural literature belong to the pea family. In some cases, as 

 the clovers, the legume or pod is so modified that it would hardly be 

 recognized as related to peas, but the flowers of practically all the 

 pea family are similar and easily recognized. The principal genera 

 of legumes cultivated as forage crops are the following twelve : 



1. Trifolium or Clover Group. There are in the world about 

 250 species in the clover family, sixty-five found in North America. 

 Hunt 1 names thirty species which have at least been tested experi- 

 mentally. Only a half-dozen have attained importance. 



Trifolium pratense, medium red clover. 

 Trifolium perenne, mammoth red clover. 

 Trifolium Jiylridum, alsike clover. 

 Trifolium repens, white clover. 

 Trifolium incarnatum, crimson clover. 

 Trifolium Alexandrium, berseem. 



2. Medicago or Alfalfa Group. There are some fifty species 

 in this family, several sown for forage, and several others, as the burr 

 clovers, that have considerable value as wild plants. 



1 " Forage and Fiber Crops," p. 140. 



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