Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Tab l e 1 . 17
(
Continued
)
Tribe Genus
Species
Nod.
Trifolieae
Medicago
L.
83
43
Melilotus
Mill.
∼
20
16
Ononis
L.
∼
75
20
Parochetus
Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don
2
1
Trifolium
L.
∼
250
131
Trigonella
L.
∼
55
23
listed in Table 1.17. There have been significant recent changes. The New Zealand tribe
Carmichaelieae (
Carmichaelia, Montigena
) is incorporated into Galegeae. Some species
of
Clianthus
(New Zealand) have been transferred to
Swainsona
(Australian).
Astragalus
,
currently the largest genus in Leguminosae, has had some species transferred to new
genera (
Erophaca, Ophiocarpus
) with more likely to follow in other new genera. The
genus may eventually form the basis of a separate tribe.
Lessertia
and
Sutherlandia
are
unusual in this group of tribes in being African endemics. Some species of
Oxytropis
grow within the Arctic circle. Many genera, including
Gueldenstaedtia
,
Chesnya
and
Ti-
betia
(Galegeae) have species that can be found high in the Himalayas.
Halimodendron
(Hedysareae) is a salt-tolerant plant of steppes. Many species of all tribes are important
forage plants.
Cicer arietinum
,
Lens culinaris, Pisum sativum
and
Vi c ia faba
have a long his-
tory of agricultural use as major grain species and are often known collectively as cool
season grain legumes, because they grow in Mediterranean areas with cool wet winters
and warm, dry summers. Although being the largest fraction of Papilionoideae (and
hence Leguminosae), this group presents few taxonomic challenges from a nodulation
point of view: they are generally nodulated by
-rhizobia.
