Leguminous plants. Plants of the legume family. Fruits of leguminous plants. Forage grasses from the legume family Herbaceous legume plant crossword clue

Alfalfa


Alfalfa (Medicago - Medicago), a leguminous herbaceous plant, is the oldest forage crop. It is one of the most valuable fodder crops and occupies the largest area in Russia.
In terms of nutritional value, alfalfa hay is superior to clover hay. Flour made from young alfalfa hay is close in nutritional value to bran. Green mass and alfalfa hay are rich in vitamins (A, B1, B2, C). Alfalfa is also of great agrotechnical importance, as it enriches the soil with a large amount of organic matter and has a high nitrogen-fixing ability.


Alfalfa is distributed mainly in the republics Central Asia, Transcaucasia, in the North Caucasus, in the forest-steppe and steppe regions of Ukraine, in the Voronezh, Kuibyshev and Saratov regions, in Western Siberia and the Primorsky Territory.
Alfalfa is sown in pure form and mixed with cereal herbs. The root of alfalfa is taproot, penetrating up to 5 m in depth. The stem is round, less often tetrahedral, branching, reaching a height of 1.0-1.5 m (Fig. 86). The inflorescence is a raceme containing from 12 to 26 flowers. The fruit is a bean, spirally curved (up to 5 turns), sickle-shaped or almost straight. The bean contains from 4 to 10 seeds.
The seeds are small, bean-shaped, kidney-shaped or angular-round in shape, yellow-brown or brown in color.
Among the numerous types of alfalfa cultivated in Russia are: Asian, European, Caucasian, Mediterranean, Mesopotamian, yellow and blue. The first two species are predominant: Asian and European alfalfa. The division into types is based on such characteristics as the color of flowers, the shape of the bean, the shape and density of the brush, etc.

Asian alfalfa (M. asiatica - Medicago asiatica). The flowers are purple or dark purple in color. The bob is medium in size, spirally curved (from 2.5 to 4 turns), dark brown in color. The seeds are bean-shaped, brown.
Varieties of Asian alfalfa: Poltavskaya 1774, Semirechenskaya local, Fergana 700, Khivinskaya, etc.
European alfalfa (M. eusativa - Medicago eusativa). Flowers are light purple, lilac variegated, yellow variegated, dark blue and yellow.
The bean is spirally curved (from 1 to 3.5 turns), less often crescent-shaped, the color is light brown or brown. The seeds are kidney-shaped, light brown in color.
Varieties of European alfalfa: Marusinskaya 425, Poltavskaya 256 Zaikevich, Tibetskaya, etc.
Yellow alfalfa (M. falcata - Medicago falcata) The flowers are yellow. The beans are sickle-shaped or straight, light brown. Seeds are angular, brown.
Varieties of yellow alfalfa: Krasnokutskaya 4009, Kubanskaya yellow, Kinelskaya 1.

Clover


Clover (Trifolium) is one of the most common legume forage plants. As a forage plant, clover is used for hay, silage, pastures are sown with it, and it is also used as green fertilizer. It is sown in its pure form and mixed with cereals; such crops are best predecessor for grain and industrial crops. Clover hay is rich in nutrients, but is slightly inferior in this regard to alfalfa hay. The agrotechnical importance of clover lies in its great influence on soil structure.
We have been cultivating clover for a long time and it is becoming more widespread every year. It is cultivated in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and other areas.

Clover has a powerful root system. The stem of clover is erect, creeping and branching (Fig. 87). Inflorescence - head, round or oblong-rounded. The corolla of the flower is red, white or pink.
The fruit is a bean with one, two, three and four seeds. The seeds are small, ovoid, heart-shaped, round-ovoid in shape. The color of the seeds is varied: violet-yellow, greenish-yellow, dark green, purple. The surface of the seeds is shiny. The absolute weight ranges from 0.68 to 1.6 g. Seed length is up to 2.5 mm. Eight types of clover are found in cultivation, of which red, pink, and white clover are the most common. The three types of clover mentioned above are perennial plants.
Red clover (T. pratense - Trifolium pratense) is most common in crops (see Fig. 87). At favorable conditions the plant reaches 1.5 m in height. The flowers are red, pink and sometimes yellow-white. The seeds are ovoid, violet-yellow or greenish-yellow. The absolute weight of the seeds is about 1.72 g. The length of the seeds is up to 2 mm.
Varieties of red clover; Amursky 11, Srednerussky, Tomsk local, Glukhovsky local, Perm local, etc.
Pink clover (T hybridum L. - Trifolium hybridum). The flowers are pink. The fruit is a bean with one and two seeds. The seeds are small, flattened, dark green in color. The absolute weight of the seeds is 0.68 g.
White clover (T. repens L. - Trifolium repens) is characterized by good winter hardiness and is valued as a pasture crop. The flowers are white. Bob - two- and four-seeded. The seeds are round, small, yellow color.

Sainfoin


Sainfoin (Onobrychis. - Onobryhis) is a perennial legume forage plant. By nutrient content and yield
when sown to produce hay in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of Russia, it is not inferior to alfalfa. Sainfoin hay contains over 15% protein. Sainfoin is good honey plant.
Its culture became widespread during the years of the first and second five-year plans. Currently, the area under sainfoin crops is increasing every year.
Sainfoin is cultivated in the forest-steppe and steppe regions of Ukraine, in the central black earth regions, in the Volga region, in the steppe regions of Bashkiria and Tatarstan, in the North Caucasus, and in Transcaucasia. Sainfoin is sown in pure form or mixed with other forage grasses.

Sainfoin is drought-resistant, has a powerful root system, and grows well in sandy and rocky soils. Sainfoin promotes the absorption of soil phosphorus by other plants. The stem is pubescent, the height of the stem is from 40 to 120 cm or more (Fig. 88), the inflorescence is a raceme. Flowers Pink colour various shades. The fruit is an indehiscent single-seeded bean, 4.5 to 8.5 mm long. The surface of the beans is covered with a network of convex veins. The seeds are bean-shaped, yellow-white or yellow-brown in color. Seed length is 4.0-4.5 mm. The absolute weight of the seeds is 13-18 g.
Varieties: Transcaucasian double-cut, AzNIHI 18, AzNIHI 74, Nakhichevan local, Sandy 1251, Ukrainian 2795, etc.

Sweet clover


Sweet clover (Melilotus) from the legume family is an annual or biennial plant. Sweet clover is used to produce hay, as a silage and pasture crop, and at the same time it is a good honey plant. Great importance has clover in creating a food supply in dry areas.
Its culture is important in such areas as Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Bashkiria, the Volga region, Estonian, Latvia and Ukraine. In the wild, sweet clover is widespread in many regions of Russia.


Sweet clover has a powerful root system, a straight, high stem, sometimes reaching a height of 3 m. The inflorescence is a raceme. The flowers are white or yellow. The fruit is a bean, usually single-seeded, round-ovoid in shape. The length of the beans is 2.5-5.0 mm, the color is gray-brown, yellow, yellow-brown. The surface is mesh or wrinkled (Fig. 89).
Seeds are oval-shaped, plain or with a pattern.
The sweet clover plant and seeds contain coumarin, which gives them strong smell. The admixture of sweet clover seeds in a batch of grain crops is undesirable. During storage, grain perceives the smell of sweet clover, and this smell is transferred to processed products - flour and cereals.
Currently being implemented in agriculture varieties of sweet clover developed by Soviet breeders that do not contain coumarin.
The absolute weight of the seeds is on average 20 g; white (Melilotus albus) and yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) are most common in crops.
Among the types of sweet clover, white sweet clover has the greatest practical importance. It has biennial and annual forms. The flowers are white. Bob - single-seeded with a mesh surface. The seeds are round-ovoid, slightly flattened, 2.0-2.5 mm long, yellow-brown in color, with a smooth, matte surface.
Varieties of white sweet clover: Omsky 4032, Veselo-Podolyansky 1146, Lucerne-shaped 9654, Sibirsky, etc.
Yellow, or medicinal, sweet clover - biennial or annual plant. Used as feed or medicinal plant. Its flowers are yellow. The bean is single-seeded, less often double-seeded. The seeds are round-ovate, slightly flattened, 1.75-2.00 mm long. They usually have purple-black spots or smears on the surface.

Lupine


Lupine (Lupinus - Lupinus from the legume family) has annual and perennial forms. Root system lupine is highly developed and has the ability to absorb nutrients from sparingly soluble compounds.
The stem is ribbed or rounded, reaching a height of up to 1.5-2.0 m in some varieties. Inflorescence - apical raceme Flowers white, pink, purple, yellow, blue. The fruit is a bean, elongated rhombic in shape, pubescent. The bean contains from 2 to 8 seeds and in most varieties cracks when ripe. The seeds are kidney-shaped, ovoid-round, flattened, with characteristic tubercles at the hilum, pink-gray with black specks, gray with a marbled pattern, white and pinkish-cream. Lupine seeds are rich in proteins, the content of which ranges from 32 to 48%. Lupine seeds contain alkaloids (1-2%); lupine - C10H19NO, lupinidine - C15H26N2, lupanine - C15H24N2O, etc., which determine the toxic properties and bitter taste of lupine seeds. The presence of alkaloids in lupine seeds prevents its use for feed. Therefore, it was mainly used as a green fertilizer.
The varieties of low-alkaloid and non-alkaloid lupine developed by Soviet breeders open up wide opportunities for the use of lupine for livestock feed, as well as in the food industry. The main areas of lupine culture are the northwestern regions of Ukraine, Belarus, the southwestern regions of Russia and Transcaucasia.
The following types of lupine are most common in crops in Russia: narrow-leaved, yellow, white.
Narrow-leaved, or blue, lupine (L. angustifolius - Lupinus angustifolius) is an annual plant with narrow leaves. Flowers are blue, purple, light blue, pink, white. The seeds are large, 6-8 mm long, kidney-shaped, gray with marble pattern. The absolute weight of the seeds is 130-200 g.
Yellow lupine (L. Luteus - Lupinus luteus) is an annual plant with yellow flowers. The seeds are kidney-shaped, white-pink or gray-variegated, and in terms of protein content they rank among other types of lupine. The absolute weight of the seeds is 110-200 g.
White lupine (L. albus - Lupinus albus) is an annual plant with white flowers. The seeds are flattened, quadrangular, with slightly rounded corners, white with a slight pink-cream tint.

Seradella


Seradella (Ornithopus sativus - Ornithopus sativus) is an annual herbaceous legume plant. It was introduced into culture relatively recently. It is usually cultivated to obtain green fertilizer and as a honey plant. It is a valuable forage plant (pasture and silage). Its nutritional value is similar to that of red clover.
It is cultivated in the Leningrad, Smolensk and Tver regions, in Belarus and some regions of Ukraine.
The seradella fruit is a bean with a net-wrinkled surface, greenish or gray in color, which, when ripe, breaks up into segments, which are sometimes called seeds.
The seeds are round-ovoid, dark yellow in color. Seed length is 2.0-5.2 mm. Absolute weight 3-5 g.

The herbaceous forage plant of the legume family is represented in Russia by several variants. First of all, it is white, pink or It has remarkable feeding qualities, is rich in protein and is successfully used as livestock feed (hence the name - fodder plant).

The most common crop is red clover, which has been cultivated in our country for more than two hundred years. The plant loves moist soil fertilized with organic matter and mineral mixtures, grows well on neutral or slightly acidic soils. The pink variety is more demanding on the soil and has a slightly bitter taste, so it is less easily eaten by animals.

There is another valuable herbaceous forage plant of the legume family. This is alfalfa. The crop is widespread due to the high digestibility of feed and record fertility in the southern regions. When provided with heat and moisture, you can get up to 7 cuttings (about 250 centners of hay) per hectare. In areas with no additional irrigation, you can collect about 90 centners per hectare for 2-3 mowings during one season.

A forage plant of the legume family, such as sainfoin, grows well on chernozems; it can develop successfully on rocky soils rich in lime and is a honey plant. Sainfoin is cultivated mainly in the North Caucasus; it withstands droughts, yielding about 22 feed units per hundredweight of crop when consumed by animals.

Another herbaceous forage plant of the legume family has been known since Ancient Rome and is called "Vika". It is grown in the Caucasus, in some central regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in Belarus. Grain, silage, hay and green fodder are obtained from the crop. Moreover, the latter contains 22 feed units per hundredweight. From one hectare, subject to agricultural technology, you can harvest up to 20 centners of grain or about 250 centners of green plant mass, which makes the crop very attractive for participation in crop rotation on livestock farms.

Where does the most unpretentious herbaceous forage plant of the legume family grow? In terms of resistance to external influences, the sowing rank is the leader. Its high frost resistance (withstands temperatures down to minus seven degrees Celsius), undemanding soil conditions, and drought resistance make it possible to extend the cultivation area to Western Siberia. The growing season (about 112 days) makes it possible to obtain middle lane Russia has about 230 centners of green plants or about 17 centners of grain per hectare. The crop is eaten with pleasure by horses and sheep, but less willingly consumed by

The herbaceous plant lupine was known back in Ancient Egypt. It was used as food for both animals and humans (beans). Today it is used to produce green fertilizers, and also as a means of harvesting up to 400 centners of plant green mass or about 15 centners of grain from one hectare of crops. Moreover, the plant does not contain dangerous alkaloids, because in the mid-30s of the twentieth century, new varieties were developed in the USSR that met food safety requirements.

Besides, in western regions In the Russian Federation and Belarus you can find such a crop as seradella, which is perfectly adapted for poor sandy loam and sandy soils. When applying manure from one hectare, you can get up to 298 centners of green mass, which is used as livestock feed. Also, the crop grows back quickly after mowing, which provides excellent opportunities for grazing animals.

All adults and even children know beans and peas, beans and lentils, fragrant acacias and clover, peanuts and mimosa, but meanwhile, all these are plants of the legume (or moth) family. A large group, the benefits of which for humans are difficult to overestimate. We eat these plants, plant them for beauty, improve the soil with their help, use wood, dye clothes and even heal ourselves.

Legume family: general characteristics

The family, familiar to everyone from school, unites a huge number of species, according to rough estimates, about 17-18 thousand. Botanists divide it into three subfamilies (based on the structure of the flower): caesalpiniaceae, mimosaaceae, and mothaceae. It is interesting to note that leguminous plants include the genus Astragalus, which has the largest number of species among the flowering plants (about 2400). Plants of this family have enough large range growing both in the hot tropics (mainly caesalpine and mimosa) and in areas Far North, in deserts and savannas.

Nitrogen fixation is distinguishing feature the whole family. The roots of leguminous plants have nodules that are formed as a result of the proliferation of parenchyma tissue. And this, in turn, is explained by the introduction and settlement of nitrogen-fixing bacteria belonging to the genus Rhizobium inside the plant. They have an amazing ability to absorb and accumulate atmospheric nitrogen, which the plant itself later uses for its growth. Such large reserves are vital important element have a good effect on the environment. Legumes are excellent for improving soil fertility. This is widely used both on an industrial scale and by competent and knowledgeable gardeners who do not forget to alternate planting different cultures in your own area. Every year they return approximately 100-140 kilograms of nitrogen back to the soil per hectare area.

Leaf structure of leguminous plants

Leguminous plants may have different shape leaves. They can be divided into several groups:

  • paired pinnately and doubly pinnately (pea, yellow acacia) leaves, they are located on both sides of the stem;
  • simplified (reduced to one apical leaf);
  • false simple, formed as a result of the fusion of two apical leaves;
  • phyllodes (in African acacia species) are flattened leaf petioles.

It is typical for leguminous plants amazing property- pinnate leaves can fold at night. This is due to the fact that at the base of the petioles there are thickenings, which, due to changes in turgor, set the leaf blade or only the leaves in motion. For example, mimosa pudica is able to do this instantly, since even a light touch of its leaves causes an immediate loss of osmotic pressure in them. This property was noticed a long time ago and served as the reason for giving the plant that name.

Flower and inflorescence

Leguminous plants can have different inflorescences, but most often they are a panicle or raceme, sometimes capitate racemes (clover), much less often they are reduced to a single flower. It is typical for members of the family cross pollination, in which pollen from one flower is transferred to another much less frequently by insects (bees, bumblebees) or bats and birds in tropical species.

Flowers of leguminous plants can be zygomorphic or actinomorphic (for example, in mimosa). The calyx usually consists of four, less often of five sepals, which grow together. There are 5 petals (all moths and some representatives of two other subfamilies) or 4. Their name and division, depending on the function performed, are very interesting. Thus, the uppermost and largest one is called the “flag”; it attracts insects that pollinate the plant. The petals located on the sides are usually called wings, and this is a kind of “landing platform”. The innermost ones, as a rule, grow together along the lower edge and form a boat that protects the stamens and pistil from insects that are not pollinators. But, for example, mimosa plants have all the petals of the same shape - free or fused.

Fruits of leguminous plants

In this case, there is absolute unity of all species of the family. The fruit is called a bean (single- or multi-seeded), dehiscing along the dorsal or ventral suture. The seeds inside the fruit are quite large, with or without endosperm, and the cotyledons are well developed. Appearance The bob can be absolutely any size, as well as any size. In some species its length reaches one and a half meters. Seed dispersal sometimes occurs independently, when the valves of the fruit, when opened, twist in a spiral, and they scatter into different sides, for example, in acacia. In some tropical species they are carried by animals or birds. The ovary of the familiar groundnut (peanut), due to negative geotropism, that is, the ability to grow and develop in a certain direction, when formed, goes 8-10 cm into the soil, where the fruit then develops.

The importance of legumes on the farm

Plants of the legume family occupy second place in practical importance for humans after cereals. Among them are a huge number of food crops of global importance: soybeans, peas, beans, peanuts, chickpeas, lentils and many others. Some of them have been cultivated by people for more than a millennium.

Leguminous plants are of great importance as forage grasses; this category includes: clover, alfalfa, lupine, sainfoin, etc. Some tropical representatives of the family (for example, logwood, pericopsis, dalbergia) are a source of valuable and highly decorative wood, colored pink, almost red, dark brown or almost black colors.

Decorative and medicinal value

There are also decorative types among legumes, such as wisteria. This woody look native to China with large racemose fragrant inflorescences. A very popular garden and park plant. Another representative is white acacia, widely distributed on the Black Sea coast. Herbaceous plants grown in gardens include, for example, sweet peas and lupins. Everyone is familiar with the color indigo, but few people know that the dye of the same name is obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctifera, a small shrub from the legume family.

Some species have long been used in medicine: fenugreek, astragalus, sweet clover, etc. Everyone is familiar with licorice, or licorice. This is a herbaceous legume that is widely used throughout the world as a cough medicine (its healing properties have been known since Ancient Egypt). Its roots and rhizomes are used for this. In some European countries Liquorice candies are very popular and even children love them. They have a characteristic glossy black color.

legume forage plant

Alternative descriptions

Forage grass of the legume family

Herbaceous plant of the legume family (forage grass)

Female name

Tsyganova

Legume forage grass

Bean grass

Bean grass for livestock

legume plant

Leguminous plant for livestock feed

Bean feed for livestock

Beans for animals

Victoria in adolescence

Victoria the first-grader

Polka dots

Peas for food

The girl from the song of the group "Roots"

Ornamental grass

Wild peas

Friendly uniform named after Victoria

G. wild pea, moth family; V.cracca, rake, knitted pea, mouse pea, goose pea, crane pea, povetel; sativa, fodder peas, seedlings, mouse peas, crane peas, passerine peas, crane peas, konjakovka; faba, Russian beans

Famous telenanny

The name of the "beautiful nanny"

The name of "my fair nanny" from the series

The name of the singer Tsyganova

Forage grass

Forage legume

Forage plant

Feed peas

Fodder peas

broad beans

honey plant herbaceous plant

My fair nanny

Singer... Tsyganova

Livestock food

A plant reminiscent of victory

Plant of the legume family, honey-bearing

plant, honey plant

Genus of perennial and annual herbaceous plants legume family; fodder crop

Rosiysk singer Tsyganova

Russian singer Tsyganova

Sister of clover and alfalfa

Abbreviated Victoria

Grass to feed cows

Grass for livestock feed

Grass used to feed livestock

Herbaceous plant that evokes thoughts of victory

Shrunken Victoria

Small form of the name Victoria

Tsyganova, who sings

Victoria

Forage crop, honey plant

Nanny - role Zavorotnyuk

Victoria, just shorter

Valuable broad bean

Herb with a woman's name

Fodder grass with a girl's name

Grass and also a girl's name

PEAS IN THE FEEDER

legume forage plant

Alternative descriptions

Forage grass of the legume family

Herbaceous plant of the legume family (forage grass)

Female name

Tsyganova

Legume forage grass

Bean grass

Bean grass for livestock

legume plant

Leguminous plant for livestock feed

Bean feed for livestock

Beans for animals

Victoria in adolescence

Victoria the first-grader

Polka dots

Peas for food

The girl from the song of the group "Roots"

Ornamental grass

Wild peas

Friendly uniform named after Victoria

G. wild pea, moth family; V.cracca, rake, knitted pea, mouse pea, goose pea, crane pea, povetel; sativa, fodder peas, seedlings, mouse peas, crane peas, passerine peas, crane peas, konjakovka; faba, Russian beans

Famous telenanny

The name of the "beautiful nanny"

The name of "my fair nanny" from the series

The name of the singer Tsyganova

Forage grass

Forage legume

Forage plant

Feed peas

Fodder peas

broad beans

honey plant herbaceous plant

My fair nanny

Singer... Tsyganova

Livestock food

A plant reminiscent of victory

Plant of the legume family, honey-bearing

plant, honey plant

A genus of perennial and annual herbaceous plants of the legume family; fodder crop

Rosiysk singer Tsyganova

Russian singer Tsyganova

Sister of clover and alfalfa

Abbreviated Victoria

Grass to feed cows

Grass for livestock feed

Grass used to feed livestock

Herbaceous plant that evokes thoughts of victory

Shrunken Victoria

Small form of the name Victoria

Tsyganova, who sings

Victoria

Forage crop, honey plant

Nanny - role Zavorotnyuk

Victoria, just shorter

Valuable broad bean

Herb with a woman's name

Fodder grass with a girl's name

Grass and also a girl's name

PEAS IN THE FEEDER