Fabaceae

The members of the bean family are herbaceous plants, semi-shrubs, shrubs and trees represented by some 730 genera, and 19,400 species. The flowers are gathered in racemes, rarely solitary.The sepals are five, joined in a calyx. The petals are also five with a different size each. The superior one is the largest and it is called ‘a flag’. The two side petals are of the same form and size and are called wings; they envelop the remaining two petals that are joined in the form of a keel. The stamens are 10 in number. Most often 9of the stamens are fused via their stems and form a semi-tube closed by the widened stem of the tenth free stamen, more rarely all ten stamens are joined in a tube. The ovary is superior.The fruit is a bean that cracks longitudinally or breaks down. The family is the third largest family of plants after the Orchidaceae andAsteraceae families. Some of the members of this family are important agricultural crops with wide economic significance.The Fabaceaefamily plants are distributed in the whole world. In Bulgaria are naturally distributed some 275 genera in 38 genera.