Distribution.It is a family of about 400 genera and 9000 species, the members of this family occurs all over the world, but particularly in the warm temperate regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres. In Pakistan about 82 genera and about 587 species have been reported.
Familiar Plants
Lathyrus odoratus (sweet Pea), Arachis hypogea (peanut), Cicer arietinum (Chick pea) and Dulbergia sisso (shisham).
Vegetal Characters
Habit: Trees, shrub or herbs.
Stem: Herbaceous, or woody or climber by tendrils (wiry, coiled thread like structures).
Leaves: Compound or rarely simple, sometimes partially or completely modified into tendrils alternate, stipulate, stipules mostly leafy.
Floral Characters
Inflorescnce: Racemose or solitary axillary.
Flowers: Bisexual, zygomorphic, bracteate, pedicellate, perigynous, pentamerous and papilionaceous.
Calyx
5 sepals, more or less united in a tube, toothed, sometimes two upper and three lower sepals unite and forming a bi-lipped structure, green mostly hairy.
Corolla
Papilionaceous; petals 5, free , usually clawed dissimilar; the upper petal is large and conspicuous and is called standard or vexillum,2 lateral ones free called wings and 2 anterior inner most that fuse to form a boat shaped structure called the keel or carina; descending imbricate.
Androecium
10 stamens, mostly diadelphous (united by their filaments in 2 groups), 9 fuse to form a sheath around the pistil, while 10th one is free.
Gynoecium:
A simple pistil 1 –carpeled, with 1-locule;ovary superior; ovule 1 or more; style long; bent at its base flattened and hairy; stigma simple. Placentation (monocarpellary) marginal.
Fruit:
Usually a legume or pod. Showing a great variety of forms in various species.
Familiar Plants
Lathyrus odoratus (sweet Pea), Arachis hypogea (peanut), Cicer arietinum (Chick pea) and Dulbergia sisso (shisham).
Vegetal Characters
Habit: Trees, shrub or herbs.
Stem: Herbaceous, or woody or climber by tendrils (wiry, coiled thread like structures).
Leaves: Compound or rarely simple, sometimes partially or completely modified into tendrils alternate, stipulate, stipules mostly leafy.
Floral Characters
Inflorescnce: Racemose or solitary axillary.
Flowers: Bisexual, zygomorphic, bracteate, pedicellate, perigynous, pentamerous and papilionaceous.
Calyx
5 sepals, more or less united in a tube, toothed, sometimes two upper and three lower sepals unite and forming a bi-lipped structure, green mostly hairy.
Corolla
Papilionaceous; petals 5, free , usually clawed dissimilar; the upper petal is large and conspicuous and is called standard or vexillum,2 lateral ones free called wings and 2 anterior inner most that fuse to form a boat shaped structure called the keel or carina; descending imbricate.
Androecium
10 stamens, mostly diadelphous (united by their filaments in 2 groups), 9 fuse to form a sheath around the pistil, while 10th one is free.
Gynoecium:
A simple pistil 1 –carpeled, with 1-locule;ovary superior; ovule 1 or more; style long; bent at its base flattened and hairy; stigma simple. Placentation (monocarpellary) marginal.
Fruit:
Usually a legume or pod. Showing a great variety of forms in various species.