Fabaceae Lindley
Pea family.
Fabaceae (Leguminosae), pea family.
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs (ours); 1–50 cm high; with single unbranched stems, or with leaves or spreading stems arising from a caudex; glandular viscid, or not glandular viscid. Taproot present. Caudex present, or absent. Aerial stems erect (usually), or decumbent; glabrous, or sparsely hairy, or densely hairy. Leaves in a basal tuft, or distributed along the stems; alternate, or opposite (appear opposite in compact plants); compound; existing for a single season or less, or marcescent. Stipules present; leaf-like, or scale-like; sheathing, or not sheathing; brown, or green, or white, or colorless. Petioles 3–60 mm long. Blades 10–120 mm long; 3–60 mm wide. Blades veins pinnate, or with inconspicuous veins. Blades adaxial surface dull, or shiny; glabrous, or hairy. Blades abaxial surface glabrous, or hairy. Leaflet arrangement palmate, or pinnate, or digitate (in Lupinus). Leaflets (3–)7–33; 1.5–60 mm long; linear, or oblong, or elliptic, or ovate, or lanceolate. Leaflets veins conspicuous, or veins inconspicuous.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems with leaves, or without leaves; glabrous, or hairy (usually). Flowers solitary, or in inflorescences (usually). Inflorescence racemose (or appearing spicate by reduction or suppression of pedicels, rarely with a single flower); 0.1–15 cm long. Flowers per inflorescence 1–30; small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length, or medium-sized, 5–15 mm in diameter or length, or large, more than 15 mm in diameter or length; zygomorphic. Floral scales glabrous (usually with ciliate margins), or hairy all over. Calyx sepals 5; fused. Calyx green, or yellow, or brown, or black; herbaceous, or scarious; tubular (usually), or funnel-form; 5-lobed (usually); hairy. Calyx teeth equal or nearly so, or sub-equal or unequal; without or with few glandular verrucae, or with abundant glandular verrucae. Petals both free and fused; 5; green, or white, or yellow, or orange, or pink, or purple, or blue; with contrasting markings (colour gradation and insect guide lines); unlobed (four petals), or shallowly lobed (banner petal); 6–30 mm long. Corolla papilionaceous (the largest and uppermost petal, called the banner, is bilobed, the two lateral ones that are similar, are called wings, and below and partly enclosed by them is the keel, formed by two petals united along the lateral margin petals). Wing auricles free from each other, blunt, shorter than the claw, or united, linear, nearly equal to the claw. Stamens 10. Nectaries present. Gynoecia superior. Carpels monomerous. Stipes 0–8 mm long. Stigmas per style 1. Ovules 2–30. Fruit sessile, or stalked. Fruit with calyx persisting; dry; a legume, or a loment; spherical (almost), or ellipsoid, or ovoid, or elongate-cylindrical, or obovate, or oblong; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Fruit 5–40 mm long; 2–10 mm wide; yellowish, or black, or brown, or green at maturity; glabrous, or hairy, or glabrescent. Legume unilocular, or nearly 2-locular by intrusion of placenta. Legume valves twisted, or straight. Loment margins wingless, or winged with auricles. Styles may persist until dehiscence but are not modified (sometimes persisting, thread-like at the tip of the legume). Seeds 1–25; 1–6 mm long; black, or brown, or yellowish; with surfaces smooth.
Chromosome information. 2n = 14, 16, 28, 32, 48, 96, 97.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: circumpolar, or amphi-Beringian, or North American. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Parry Islands, Banks, Victoria, Southampton, Coats.
Notes. Key to genera from Porsild (1964).
1. Leaves palmate...
Lupinus
1. Leaves pinnate... 2
2. Legumes flat, indehiscent,
composed of several articulate sections... Hedysarum
2. Legumes
subcylindrical, dehiscent... 3
3. Keel of corolla blunt, without appendage
at tip... Astragalus
3. Keel of corolla tipped with an erect point...
Oxytropis.
Illustrations. • Infrutescences of Astragalus and Oxytropis. Difference in structure of infrutescence of Astragalus (alpinus) and Oxytropis (campestris ssp. sordida). Finland: Kuusamo, Kiutakongas. 27.08.1983. Photographed by R.Elven.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
