what is a legume?

Answer 1

A legume is any member of the PEA family of plants, such as a peanut, beans, lotus tree, etc.... It has a symmetrical flower and a pod that splits down the middle carrying the seeds (like a pea pod).

Answer 2

The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). Thus, "legume" can be:

The common name for plant species in the Family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae);
The name of a type of fruit, characteristic of leguminous plants:
A legume is a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a "pod", although pod is also applied to a few other fruit types. Well-known plants that bear legume fruits include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lupins and peanuts. A peanut is not a nut in the botanical sense; a peanut is an indehiscent legume, that is, one whose pod does not split open on its own.

Answer 3

The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). Thus, "legume" can be:

The common name for plant species in the Family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae);
The name of a type of fruit, characteristic of leguminous plants:
A legume is a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a "pod", although pod is also applied to a few other fruit types. Well-known plants that bear legume fruits include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lupins and peanuts. A peanut is not a nut in the botanical sense; a peanut is an indehiscent legume, that is, one whose pod does not split open on its own.
Legumes are noteworthy for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, an accomplishment attributable to a symbiotic relationship with certain bacteria known as rhizobia found in root nodules of these plants. The ability to form this symbiosis reduces fertilizer costs for farmers and gardeners who grow legumes, and means that legumes can be used in a crop rotation to replenish soil that has been depleted of nitrogen.

Legume seed and foliage has a comparatively higher protein content than non-legume material, probably due to the additional nitrogen that legumes receive through nitrogen-fixation symbiosis. This high protein content makes them desirable crops in agriculture.

Farmed legumes fall into two classes: forage and grain.

Forage legumes, like alfalfa, clover and vetch, are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock.
Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, and are also called pulses. The seeds are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for industrial uses. Grain legumes include beans, lentils, lupins, peas and peanuts.
The term is derived from the French word "légume" (which, however, has a wider meaning and refers to any kind of vegetable).

Answer 4

A legume is one of the members of the family Leguminoceae. The shared characteristic of these plants is that they produce their seeds in pods and include plants such as peas, beans and lupins.

The most important thing about legumes is that they produce nodules on their roots, which contain a bacterium called Rhizobium. This bacterium is able to fix nitrogen, i.e. convert gaseous N2 from the air into ammonium and ultimately nitrates. The cycling of nitrogen is one of the fundamental nutrient cycles on the planet.

In terms of agricultural production they are important because they do not exhaust the soil of its nitrates. When crop rotation was introduced in the 19th century by Turnip Townsend a season of legumes was introduced to the rotation exactly for thie purpose of resting fields after they had been used for nitrate-hungry cereals. In the modern era where inorganic nitrate fertilizers are routinely used, growing legumes can reduce the need for such addition. As in the nineteenth century they give the soil a chance to recover as legumes have their own source of nitrate. This gives other nitrogen fixing bacteria which live in the soil a chance to make the soil more fertile again. Gardeners can also improve soil fertility by growing legumes either as crops, or flowers such as lupins and sweet peas.

One final interesting fact about legumes concerning nitrogen fixation is that they produce a molecule in the nodules called leghaemaglobin - similar to the molecule in blood. This binds oxygen in the nodule and carries it away, a necessary function as the enzyme which actually fixes the nitrogen - nitrogenase - only functions at low oxygen levels.

Answer 5

A legume - A Legumous plant e.g. a plant belonging to the pea family which creates this own nitrates from bacteria in nodes on their roots - also the name of the eddable parts of the plants

Answer 6

The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). Thus, "legume" can be:
* The common name for plant species in the Family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae);
* The name of a type of fruit, characteristic of leguminous plants:

A legume is a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a "pod", although pod is also applied to a few other fruit types. Well-known plants that bear legume fruits include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lupins and peanuts. A peanut is not a nut in the botanical sense; a peanut is an indehiscent legume, that is, one whose pod does not split open on its own.

Legumes are noteworthy for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, an accomplishment attributable to a symbiotic relationship with certain bacteria known as rhizobia found in root nodules of these plants. The ability to form this symbiosis reduces fertilizer costs for farmers and gardeners who grow legumes, and means that legumes can be used in a crop rotation to replenish soil that has been depleted of nitrogen.

Legume seed and foliage has a comparatively higher protein content than non-legume material, probably due to the additional nitrogen that legumes receive through nitrogen-fixation symbiosis. This high protein content makes them desirable crops in agriculture.

Farmed legumes fall into two classes: forage and grain.
* Forage legumes, like alfalfa, clover and vetch, are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock.
* Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, and are also called pulses. The seeds are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for industrial uses. Grain legumes include beans, lentils, lupins, peas and peanuts.

The term is derived from the French word "légume" (which, however, has a wider meaning and refers to any kind of vegetable).

Answer 7

The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part).

In French its vegtable.

Answer 8

A vegetable which grows in a pod like a pea, or beans

Answer 9

legume
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noun
an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae
the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a two-valved case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attached to one edge of the valves
the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils)

Answer 10

A French word for vegetable.