what are leguminous plants

Leguminous plants are plants in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. They are also known as pulses, and include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, grass peas, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes are grown for food, as well as for industrial and agricultural purposes. They are an inexpensive source of protein, vitamins, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Legumes are also used in parallel with food crops to enrich the soil with natural fertilizers (ammonium). Leguminous plants have a large number of species, with over 20,000 species in the family Fabaceae. Legumes are widely distributed as the third-largest land plant family in terms of number of species, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae.