Legumes are very useful for humans, as they are rich in fiber, contain vitamin A and B vitamins, iron, calcium, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and starch. Legumes contain even more protein than meat products, so they can replace meat for vegetarians.
Root system legumes represents the roots with nodules on them, formed when nitrogen-fixing bacteria enter. They fix nitrogen, with the help of which the plant and soil receive nutrition.
And now a little interesting facts about legumes:
- Since beans contain folic acid and potassium, then they are able to have a cleaning effect for the blood and for the body as a whole
- The content of vitamin B reduces the likelihood of heart disease, improves digestion. What is very important for girls, the presence of this vitamin in the diet improves the condition of the hair: they acquire a more luxuriant and strong structure.
- According to nutritionists, eating 150 g of legumes every day will lower blood cholesterol levels.
- The Mediterranean countries are considered the homeland of legumes, from where they subsequently spread throughout the world.
The most common legumes are:
- Lupine
Quite a popular legume product with a high content of fat and protein, which is of plant origin. This is why soy is included in many animal feeds. Also used as a substitute for animal products.
As already mentioned, soy contains proteins that are poorly inferior to the same proteins of animal origin, therefore it is often eaten by vegetarians who need to make up for the lack of proteins that could not enter the body due to the rejection of meat food.
Common annual plant, which is found, almost everywhere. It is often a weed that grows along roads and where there is a lot of debris. Since it is able to grow in the most unexpected places, it is not picky about the soil, it is resistant to frost.
Flowers are usually solitary, purple or pink shade, less often - white. Pods are light yellow in color, wide.
Everyone knows given view legume culture. This is a real storehouse of various vitamins such as B1, B2, B3, B6, C, E, K and PP. O useful properties these vitamins can be read on the corresponding Internet resources.
The beans, which can vary in size and color, are arranged in pods 6-20 cm in length.
Lentils are considered one of the oldest cultivated plants.
The most common are red and brown lentils. After heat treatment, brown lentils acquire an unobtrusive nutty smell. And red lentils are used in Asian cuisine.
Since this culture does not contain fats, it can be eaten by people who are overweight. The plus is that thanks to the carbohydrates contained in lentils, it makes you feel full for a long period of time.
It is a perennial herb, whose height varies from 30 to 70 cm. It has eye catching bright pink-purple flowers, collected in a brush. The fruit is a bean.
Light amber honey is harvested from this plant, which is distinguished by its aroma and taste.
For our country, the cultivation of this type of legumes is not typical. Mostly chickpeas are grown in Turkey. North America, Mexico.
It has a nutty flavor. It can be boiled or fried, served as a side dish, or added to pilaf.
Chickpea fruits are small beans that have a brownish-green color and resemble an owl's or ram's head in shape. In comparison with the same peas, it is larger.
Since it belongs to a legume culture, the fruit of a pea is a bean that can have different shape and color, depending on the variety.
Has a hollow stem from light green to dark green, with clinging antennae. Contains only 55 kcal per 100 g of product, therefore it is considered dietary product... However, in dried form, the number of calories rises sharply, so peas in this form are not recommended in large quantities obese people.
Lupine
Also called “wolf beans”. Differs in endurance and the ability to absorb substances that will subsequently enrich the soil.
The leaves of the plant are collected in 5-6 pieces per socket; white, red or purple flowers form long clusters (up to 1 m). In height, lupines can reach 1.5 m. Inflorescences are similar to beans.
Everyone is familiar with the plant belonging to the legume family. Blooms from late spring to early autumn. It grows mainly in meadows, in the forest in clearings. It is found everywhere.
Has trifoliate bright green leaves. During flowering, forms bright pink, less often dark red, globular heads.
It is an annual plant that can grow to a height of 180 cm. It has round white flowers with dark spots on the wings, collected in inflorescences.
The fruit is a bean. One plant can develop 10-20 fruits, and in some cases even more.
The advantage of fodder beans is the strong attachment of the lower fruits, as this allows harvesting with the help of combines and other agricultural machines.
It bears the name - peanut, distinctive feature which is the development of fruits in the earth.
Aerial flowers are yellow-orange in color, located once or 2-3 in the axils of the leaves. The underground flowers are small and colorless.
Pods are cocoon-shaped with a fragile red or dark / light brown shell. Seeds are dark red or light pink, oblong-oval or rounded.
Overview of legumes
Legumes (lat. Fabaceae & Leguminosae, by fruit), or Papillionaceae, by color) is the name of a very extensive family of plants from the dicotyledonous class. The flowers of all representatives are irregular, consist of five unequal petals, with 10 stamens, and the fruits have a characteristic structure that deserves a special botanical term "bean". A common feature of the entire family is that the flowers always have a single-membered ovary - whole, not dividing into lobes, unilocular, and the fruit in all is bivalve, unilocular, multi-seeded (single-seeded in Trifolium clover), bursting at two seams of the valves, to which they are attached seeds even in odd intervals.
This huge family, numbering up to 6,600 species and more than 200 genera, is distributed throughout the globe and has its representatives in all latitudes, from the Far North and alpine meadows to the equator. Herbaceous and woody forms are almost equally abundant in this family, which, in its largest features, is subdivided into the following three subfamilies: mimosa, cesalpinia and legumes, in fact, making up the vast majority of the entire family. Mimosa and Caesalpinia are inhabitants of an exceptionally warm climate, while the rest of the legumes actually remain. climatic zones the globe.
Botanical description. Legumes have irregular, two-symmetrical flowers with a 5-lobe non-falling calyx, 5-petal corolla, 10 stamens and a pistil; the petals of a completely blossoming flower are similar to the figure of a flying moth, from which the very name of flowers and the whole family ( best examples- peas and sweet peas). On the other hand, the same flower is likened to a boat; the largest unpaired petal is called the sail (vexillum), followed by a pair of identical and narrower petals, symmetrically located, these are the wings (alae), or oars; finally, two more equal petals have grown together along their lower edge, forming a very distinct boat (carina); it is in this boat that the pistil and stamens lie, of which in most species one is completely free, and 9 have grown together with their filaments (up to different heights in different genera and species) into one common plate that fits the pistil. The leaves of legumes are predominantly complex and most often pinnate or pinnate (clover, lupine), from one to 20 or more pairs of leaves; very characteristic of this family are stipules, characteristic of most species and sometimes exceeding the size of the leaves themselves (in peas and many others); antennae are also very frequent, both simple and branched, ending in petioles compound leaves... From huge number genera belonging to this subfamily, it is enough to point out to everyone known for their applications: Peanuts (Arachis), Astragalus (Astragalus), Beans (Faba), Vicia (Vicia), Peas (Pisum), Melilotus (Melilotus), Caragana (Caragana), Clover (Trifolium), Lupine (Lupinus), Alfalfa (Medicago), Soy (Glycine), Beans (Phaseolus), Lentils (Lens) and many others. Legumes are one of the richest families in terms of the abundance of representatives useful to humans.
Caesalpinicae with few genera differ in much less irregularity of colors; the two petals of the "boat" no longer grow together, so that the boat itself does not exist; the stamens are all free too; the fruit is a pod, opening only one seam, and not two, as in the previous subfamily, or not opening at all; there are also forms without petals, as, for example, the famous "sweet horns", Ceratonia Siliqua, which have only 5 stamens; in addition to this genus, which does not grow wildly in Russia, our Crimean shrub is a good representative of the Caesalpinievs, even a tree - "Judas tree", or "Judaic scarlet" (Cercis siliquastrum), in Tatar "Muza-agach", blooming early spring, to the leaves, in large bright pink flowers; its leaves are completely whole, round. Of the others, more famous families include Caesalpinia, Gleditschia, Cassia, Goddess (Bauhinia), Tamarind (Thamarindus) and Carob (Ceratonis).
Mimoseae (Mimoseae), with even fewer genera, natives, as already mentioned, of the warm belt. Flowers are generally small, collected in dense inflorescences - heads, less often brushes, and almost regular; this subfamily can be called legumes with the correct colors; the number of flower parts ranges from 4 to 6, although five times more often; stamens from 4 to an indefinite number; the leaves of most are doubly pinnate with small lobes. There are no special differences in the structure of the fruits. Good examples are bashful mimosa (Mimosa pudica), which folds its leaves and drops leaf petioles at the slightest irritation, acacia (Acacia Julibrissin), acacia Catehu (Acacia Catehu), Sandalwood Pterocarpus (Santali Lignum), and a shrub growing in the Caucasus. -ebrishim ", that is, the Silk tree.
Healing properties and applications. Medicinal galega or Goat's rue. V folk medicine used to enhance milk secretion in nursing mothers and as a remedy for diabetes. It is also considered a diuretic.
Fragrant dipterix. Active ingredients: coumarin and its derivatives, fatty oil, starch, gums, essential oil, sitosterol and a number of other substances. It is used to improve the smell of smoking, medical and snuff tobacco.
Dyeing gorse. This medicinal plant is used in folk medicine as a tonic after a serious illness, as a blood purifier and to remove stones and sand from Bladder... In addition, gorse is recommended for constipation, rheumatic and gouty pains, against delayed menstruation and for minor complaints from the heart.
Zharnovets paniculata. First of all, Zharnovite acts on the conducting system of the heart; pathologically accelerated formation of impulses, increased excitability of the conducting system are reduced. The patient's condition improves with atrial and ventricular flutter, as well as with extrasystole. They can treat cardiac arrhythmias of various origins. The great advantage of this medicinal plant is its good tolerance even with long-term use, when a long course of treatment is required. But only a doctor can prescribe a Zharnovite, and it should be taken only under the supervision of a doctor.
Cabbage tree. Chrysarobin, secreted from the resin of the cabbage tree, is a skin cleanser; it is still used in the form of solutions and ointments for skin diseases (for example, psoriasis).
Cinema Malabar. Raw materials of cinema contain tannins, it is used as a fixative for the stomach. It is part of dental elixirs that relieve inflammation of the oral mucosa.
Kopai tree. Copaja balm is used to disinfect the bronchi.
Muira Puama. Pharmaceutical raw materials Muira-Puama - Muira-Puama lignum is used as a sexually stimulating agent for men and women.
Piscidian tree. Sometimes used like component soothing and sleeping teas. In America it is used as a sleeping pill.
Naked licorice. In folk medicine, for coughs and other colds, powder from licorice root mixed with honey is often used: 1/2 teaspoon of the powder is mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey, taken 3 times a day. For stomach ulcers and other stomach ailments, it is recommended to chew small pieces of the root. It also helps in relieving hangover symptoms. Areas of application: to facilitate expectoration in case of upper catarrh respiratory tract(bronchitis), for the treatment of spastic phenomena in inflammation of the gastric mucosa (chronic gastritis).
Barbed steel. Modern folk medicine uses this medicinal plant to combat fluid retention, to stimulate metabolism with stones in the bladder and kidneys, with articular rheumatism and gout, with skin rashes and weeping eczema.
Beans. Bean leaf tea has been used in home medicine for a long time as a diuretic for urinary retention and edema, with urolithiasis, as well as for inflammation of the kidneys, diseases of the bladder, rheumatism, sciatica and gout. Naturally, traditional medicine tries to use beans along with blueberry leaves for sugar disease.
Physostigma poisonous or Calabar bush. How medicine used only in veterinary medicine for colic. In the form of a salt of salicylic acid, it is used to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma. Serves as a raw material for obtaining a poisonous alkaloid physostigmine.
Healing ulcer. Ulcer in many areas has remained one of the favorite home remedies. Together with plantain, it is used to make tea, which is used to treat wounds and against coughs. Plantain contains substances with antibacterial action and this mixture gives good results in the treatment of wounds.
Also, beans are used for cleansing the skin and as a remedy for eczema. Also, in folk medicine, another legume is used - clover. It is used against many diseases, but mainly in countryside, most likely because there is an unlimited amount of it. Delicious tea is prepared from it. Clover tea, sweetened with honey (diabetics cannot use sweetening), is good for coughs and liver diseases. It is also considered an excellent blood purifier.
general characteristics legumes and their classification.
Legumes (Fabaceae s.l.) Is an extensive family of the class dicotyledonous plants, represented by more than 20,000 species, united in almost a thousand genera. Among them there are trees, shrubs, perennial and annual grasses that grow in all climatic zones of the planet. A common feature is the structure of the leaf and mainly the fruit.
The legume family is usually divided into three subfamilies, Caesalpinia ( Caesalpinioideae), Mimosa ( Mimosoideae) and actually Legumes or Butterflies ( Faboideae or Papillionaceae), differing mainly in the structure of the flower. Some botanists prefer to treat them as separate families.
Caesalp and mimosa represented by a small number of genera growing in areas with a warm climate, these are mainly trees or shrubs. The subfamily of Caesalpiaceae includes, for example, the carob tree ( Ceratonis), tamarind ( Tamarindus), cesalpinia ( Caesalpinia), in Russia - Judaic scarlet ( Cercis siliquastrum). Typical representatives of mimosa are bashful mimosa ( Mimosa pudica), a native of South and Central America, real acacia ( Acacia Julibrissin), silver acacia ( Acacia dealbata), growing in the Caucasus and here is mistakenly called mimosa.
Butterflies or legumes proper plants make up the majority of the family and are distributed in all climatic zones. These are the well-known vegetables and forage crops such as peas, beans, soybeans, beans, as well as clover, alfalfa, vetch, etc.
Description of legumes - seeds, leaves, roots
Due to the huge variety of species, it is difficult to give a single characteristic of legumes, but they all have a number of distinctive features, for which they belong to the same family.
The main characteristic feature of the legume family is the special structure of the fruit, scientifically called a pod, and in agricultural literature or everyday life - a pod. It is a unilocular fruit with two valves. Inside the bean, the seeds are attached to the valves by even through odd ones. In most species, the fruit is multi-seeded, in some it is single-seeded. When ripe, the fruit opens one at a time (for representatives of the cesalp) or two sutures. Beans come in a variety of shapes and sizes, the largest - at the climbing entada, growing up to 1.5 m, it is at the same time the most large fruit in the world. Photo of beans or pods of one of typical plants families are shown below.
In all leguminous plants, flowers are irregular, two-symmetrical, collected in apical or axillary inflorescences, brushes or heads. The number of flowers in an inflorescence can be different, up to one, but then big size... The most characteristic flower, similar in shape to a flying moth, is found in moths, for which the subfamily got its name.
By outward appearance it also resembles a boat, which is why each petal has a specific name. The largest, unpaired, is called a sail (vexillum), a pair of the next, narrower, symmetrically located, are called oars or wings ( alae), and the last two, fused along their lower edge, are called a boat (carina). Inside the boat there is a pistil surrounded by 10 stamens, in most species 9 of them have grown together, one is located separately.
In representatives of the Cesalpian subfamily, the flowers are less irregular, the two lower petals do not grow together in a boat, and the stamens are all free, do not form a single plate. Mimosa even more differ in the structure of flowers, they are almost correct shape, small, collected in dense heads, sometimes brushes, have from 4 to 6 parts, in most plants - 5. The number of stamens can be from 4 to an indefinite number.
The leaves of most legumes are compound, pinnate or cinched, arranged in pairs, from one to 20 or more.
Often there are stipules, sometimes exceeding the size of the leaves, on the petioles of which, in many species, simple or branched antennae are formed.
Legume roots
A characteristic feature of the roots of leguminous plants is the presence of nodules on them, special growths, which are colonies of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which penetrate from the ground into the root cells, causing the growth of its tissues.
In the course of their vital activity, bacteria absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form accessible to the plant.
Such nitrogen is not only used for the growth and development of the host plant, but also accumulates in all its parts and is released into the soil.
Certain types of legumes return at least 100-140 kg of nitrogen to the soil per year, which makes them the main crops for land reclamation.
Nodule bacteria are present on the roots of most (70%) moth plants, in some mimosa and 10-15% of cesalpia plants.
Bean composition: vitamins, oils, proteins, starch and other substances
The role of legumes in the life of human civilization can hardly be overestimated. In terms of their importance for the world economy, they are second only to grain crops. Representatives of this family are not only food plants, which have been an integral part of the diet of many peoples since ancient times, but also fodder, decorative, technical, medicinal, melliferous crops, a source of valuable timber.
The vast majority of legumes used for food belong to the moth subfamily. This is primarily soy, a widespread food product in many countries, as well as peas, different kinds beans and beans, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, mung bean, etc. Their nutritional value is due to the composition of the beans, which are rich in protein, contain a large number of starch, many species accumulate vegetable oil in fruits. In peas, for example, protein contains up to 27%, in lentils - up to 32%, and in soybeans up to 40%, in some varieties and up to 48-50% of the total mass of fruits. Thus, legumes, especially soybeans, are a cheap substitute for meat products, not only for the world's poor, but also for those who adhere to certain diets that limit meat consumption. A number of members of the family, in particular soybeans and peanuts, are used for the industrial production of vegetable oil. In terms of the amount of oil produced, peanuts are in second place in the world, after cotton.
In tropical countries, legumes with underground tubers are considered promising food crops. In terms of the amount of starch and protein, as well as the yield, such plants are superior to potatoes and yams. For example, in pachirizus cut, whose homeland is Mexico, and Brazilian pachirisus tuberous, individual tubers grow up to 8 kg.
Legumes are an important source of vitamins A, C, PP, and especially B vitamins: B1, B2, B6, which have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. The fiber they contain helps the intestines work, causes fast satiety, and the amino acids and lysine present in the protein strengthen the immune system. Another advantage of legumes is that they do not accumulate nitrates and toxic substances.
Representatives of the subfamilies of mimosa and cesalpiniaceae are not as common among food crops as moth plants, but among them there are widely cultivated species. An example is tamarind, grown for the sake of fruits, which contain up to 40% sugars, vitamin C, citric, tartaric acids. The carob is also widely used in the Mediterranean countries.
Many species of the legume family are essential forage crops. In terms of area occupied, clover takes the first place in the world. Various types of alfalfa are no less widespread, even surpassing clovers in terms of feeding value. Another representative of the family is the camel thorn, the main grazing plant of the deserts and semi-deserts of Central Asia. Less common fodder legumes include some low-alkaloid varieties of lupine, sainfoin, in China, Canada and the United States, white sweet clover is cultivated for this purpose.
All of the above fodder plants belong to the subfamily of moths. V last years in this capacity for the tropics, some representatives of the mimosa subfamily are increasingly used. This is, first of all, a number of African species of acacias, in particular, whitish acacia, as well as plants of the genus Prozopis. Particularly promising in this regard is the light-headed leuken tree ( Leucaena leucocephala), originally from Central America, is now cultivated almost everywhere in tropical countries. The green mass obtained from it is not inferior in nutritional value to alfalfa, and the yield is 1.5 - 2 times higher.
A number of members of the family are valuable medicinal plants... For example, cassia is widely used as a diuretic and laxative, rutin is obtained from Japanese Sophora, it is used as an infusion for washing and irrigating purulent wounds and ulcers. Licorice root and Ural licorice are raw materials for the medical and food industries.
Among the numerous representatives of legumes, there are ornamental plants, flowers, trees and shrubs, some tropical species serve as a source of valuable wood of pink, red, dark brown color, a number of African acacias are used to obtain gum arabic, natural glue. Many legumes secrete gum, which is used in the textile, paint and varnish, food industries.
>> Legume family
Section 68 Legume family
The legume family is one of the largest families. There are over 12,000 species in it. Among legumes, annuals and perennial herbs, shrubs and trees.
From cultivated field and vegetable legumes plants in our country, peas, beans, soybeans, beans, lupins are grown. Ornamental legumes are widespread: caragana yellow (acacia), white robinia (acacia), wisteria and sweet peas. Many plants of this family grow in meadows, bushes and groves (types of clover, sweet clover, ranks). Outwardly, they have little or no similarity. 140 .
On what grounds are legume species combined into one family?
In legumes, the fruit is a bean; perianth double; calyx of 5 fused sepals; corolla of 5 petals; 2 of them grow together. The petals have special names: the upper, usually the largest, is the garus, the lateral ones are the oars, the 2 fused lower ones are the boat. 141 ... Inside the boat is a pistil surrounded by 10 stamens. In most plants, the filaments of 9 stamens grow together, and 1 remains free. In some legumes, all the stamens are fused with filaments or all the stamens are free.
Nodules form on the roots of leguminous plants. These nodules arise because from the soil through the root hairs into cells the roots of leguminous plants are invaded by bacteria. They absorb and assimilate free nitrogen from the air. They cause the cells to divide and enlarge in the root, resulting in the appearance of nodules. Such cohabitation, which is beneficial for both organisms, is called symbiosis (from the Greek word “symbiosis” - living together). After the plant dies off, the soil is enriched with substances containing nitrogen. All organs of legumes are rich in nitrogen-containing substances, in particular proteins.
Leaves and inflorescences of leguminous plants are different in different types... At the clover leaves trifoliate, in soybeans, beans, peas, yellow and white acacia, vetch - pinnate, in lupine - finger-like.
Of the inflorescences for leguminous plants, a brush (lupine, sweet clover) and a head (clover) are characteristic.
1. What cultivated plants and by what characteristics are they referred to the legume family?
2. What is the economic value of food and forage legumes?
Korchagina V.A., Biology: Plants, bacteria, fungi, lichens: Textbook. for 6 cl. wednesday shk. - 24th ed. - M .: Education, 2003 .-- 256 p.: Ill.
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General characteristics of the family
Legumes or moth plants belong to the dicotyledonous class. Taxonomists account for more than 20 thousand species of them in nature. Most of them are valuable food and forage crops. The ability of some species to fix atmospheric nitrogen is of particular importance. Legumes are represented by all life forms: grasses, shrubs and trees. Typically s on the stem. The legume flower is a systematic trait.
Symbols
In botany, there is such a thing as a flower formula. She represents legend parts of this generative organ. The numbers in this row indicate quantitative indicators elements of the generative organ.
They are deciphered as follows:
- H is a cup. It is a collection of sepals surrounding the receptacle.
- B - whisk. These are all the petals of a flower.
- O - perianth. It includes a cup and a whisk.
- T is the number of stamens.
- P is the number of pistils.
Legume Flower Formula
Now we will decipher this combination of symbols on specific example... The flower formula of moth or leguminous plants is as follows: Ch5 L1 + 2 + (2) T (9 + 1) P1. This structure visually resembles a boat or a butterfly. This is what explains the name butterflies.
So, the perianth of this family consists of five sepals and petals. The structure of the latter is differentiated. The topmost petal is large compared to the rest. It is called the "sail". On both sides there are side lobes - "oars". The remaining pair grows together along the bottom edge. This is how the "boat" is formed. Legumes have one pistil. In one case, there may be ten stamens, in another - nine of them grow together, and one remains free. Petals are sometimes also called butterfly with wings.
Flower type
The legume flower formula carries and Additional information... Such structures are bisexual. This means that the flowers have a pistil and stamens. They can be single - large with bright and wide petals.
Another of characteristic features is symmetry. On this basis, the flowers of legumes are irregular or zygomorphic. This means that a single vertical plane can be drawn through them.
In a number of cases, the formation of inflorescences occurs in representatives of this family. Sometimes the flower formula which was given above forms inflorescences. It can be a brush, a head, or a whisk.
Pollination and seed formation
The formula of the legume flower indicates some of its differences in different species of the family. These features also determine the method of pollination. For example, in a clover, each petal is twisted into a long tube. Therefore, only bumblebees with a special proboscis can pollinate it. Bees and butterflies are also attracted to legumes. Self-pollination occurs in peas, lupine, astragalus, wiki.
A feature of legume seeds is the absence of endosperm - a spare nutrient... These are dicotyledonous plants. Therefore, their embryo consists of two cotyledons, a rudimentary stem, a root and a bud, which contains the rudiments of the first leaves. Outside there is a protective skin. The cotyledons are turned towards each other with flat sides. They are connected in one of the parts. In this place, the rudimentary organs are located.
The supply of substances is contained directly in the cotyledons. Scientists have proven that lupine can be grown even from seeds that long time lay in the permafrost. And for beans underground germination is characteristic. In a biological sense, this is very beneficial, since it provides protection from animals, temperature changes.
Fruits and seeds
The fruit of this family is called a bean. It develops from a carpel. The bean is dry polyspermous. After maturation, it opens along the seam between the two valves. There are seeds on them. Unlike a pod, there is no vertical septum inside the bean.
Bean seeds have long been used for food. Peas and beans are high in protein, while soybeans and peanuts are vegetable oils... Clover and alfalfa are essential for their nutritional value. Great importance these plants are also used as honey plants. White and yellow caragana and mimosa are well-known decorative species.
Meaning
Bean sprouts are a valuable green fertilizer. They are plowed and left on the surface of the soil, which contributes to its enrichment with organic matter and improves the structure. In the pharmaceutical industry, licorice, sweet clover, and acacia are used as raw materials. Sandalwood is the most valuable timber.
Nodule bacteria settle only on the roots of legumes. it special kind, which is able to assimilate atmospheric nitrogen. What is the use of such organisms? Nitrogen is essential for stem and leaf formation. And there is enough of this substance in the air - up to 78%. But plants cannot absorb atmospheric nitrogen. The nodule bacteria convert it into a form that dissolves in water and can be absorbed from the soil by the roots. The existence of these organisms is mutually beneficial: bacteria provide plants with nitrogen, and in return receive mineral nutrients.
So, the formula for a legume flower is CH5 L1 + 2 + (2) T (9 + 1) P1. This structure consists of five carpels and the same number of petals. The latter differ in size and shape. As a result, the legume flower has irregular shape and is zygomorphic. This means that only one axis of symmetry can be drawn through it. This type of symmetry is called zygomorphic. Visually, the flower of leguminous plants resembles a boat with oars and a sail or a butterfly. This determines the second name of this family - moths. All legume flowers are bisexual. They have one pistil. And the number of stamens is ten. In some of them, nine of them grow together, and one remains free.