Best Legume

Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis) is a robust herbaceous perennial belonging to the legume family, native to the prairies and open woodlands of central and eastern North America. It is distinguished by its tall, branching spikes of indigo-blue, pea-like flowers that bloom in the late spring, fol...

White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba) is a tall, drought-tolerant perennial native to prairies and open woodlands of the central and eastern United States. A member of the legume family (Fabaceae), it grows 3 to 5 feet tall with blue-green, trifoliate leaves and produces tall spikes of white, pea-like f...

Shola is an Afghan soft-textured rice dish cooked with legumes and spices, with regional versions incorporating mung beans, meat, tomatoes, or vegetables.

Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is a native flowering legume of the pea family found primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States. The plant is recognized by its distinct palmate leaves, which radiate in a starburst pattern from a central point, and its tall spikes of blue and purple pea-lik...

Purple prairie clover, Dalea purpurea, is a perennial legume native to prairies and open grasslands across central North America. In summer it bears dense cylindrical flower heads in which small purple blossoms open progressively around the spike, above finely divided leaves. Symbiotic bacteria asso...

A South Indian snack of boiled legumes seasoned with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and coconut, sundal is widely prepared as prasad during the nine-day Navratri festival across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida) is a native perennial legume of North American grasslands and prairies. It develops a deep taproot and produces cylindrical flower spikes of small white tubular blossoms that open progressively from bottom to top in mid-summer. As a legume, it fixes nitrogen and...

Megachile ericetorum is a European leafcutter bee species notable for constructing its nest partitions using a unique mixture of chewed leaves, mud, and sticky tree resin.

Melitta leporina is a Palearctic solitary bee first described by Panzer in 1799, notable for being oligolectic on plants in the Fabaceae family.

Ugba, also known as ukpaka, is a traditional fermented condiment made from the seeds of the African oil bean tree, scientifically known as Pentaclethra macrophylla. It is a staple food among the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who prepare it through an extensive boiling, slicing, and fermentati...

Ogiri is a group of strongly flavored fermented seed condiments used in West African cooking, particularly in Nigeria. Depending on the regional variety, it may be prepared from oil-rich seeds or beans such as castor, sesame, or melon seeds, which are cooked and fermented before being formed into a...

Andrena wilkella is a mining bee introduced to North America in the 1900s, where it successfully established itself as a widespread pollinator of clovers and leguminous plants.

Andrena labialis is a European mining bee notably characterized by its unusually expanded mouthparts, and it typically forages on nectar and pollen from leguminous plants.

American Vetch is a widespread climbing perennial native to North America, commonly used as a beneficial cover crop to enrich soil with nitrogen.

Andrena ovatula is a small European mining bee known for its ecological role as a pollinator of economically important crops, foraging predominantly on clover and other legumes.

Red Clover is a Eurasian herbaceous legume widely introduced globally as a forage crop, playing a vital role in agricultural nitrogen fixation.

White Clover is a creeping Eurasian legume that has become naturalized globally, serving as a crucial nectar source for bees and fixing nitrogen.

Bird's-foot Trefoil is a Eurasian perennial legume widely cultivated for forage, named for its distinct seed pods that resemble a bird's foot.

Epilachna varivestis, a ladybird beetle native to Mexico, is one of the few herbivorous coccinellids and a serious pest of bean crops in North America.

Crown Vetch is a Eurasian legume introduced to the United States in the 1950s for erosion control, which has since become an aggressive invasive species.