A plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant.
Legumes are plants with seed pods that split into two halves. Edible seeds from plants in the legume family include beans, peas, lentils, soybeans, and peanuts. Since peanuts are nutritionally similar to tree nuts, information on the health benefits of peanuts is presented in the article on nuts. Black beans are a common example of legumes. Legumes are great sources of fat, protein and carbohydrates. Different varieties contain varying amounts of these nutrients, with beans, nuts, peas and lentils all having unique nutritional profiles. Well-known legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, soybeans, peanuts and tamarind. A legume fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a pod, although the term pod is also applied to a few other fruit types, such as that of vanilla (a capsule) and of radish (a silique). Legumes are plants in the pea family that produce pods that dehisce, meaning that they split open naturally along a seam, revealing a neat row of seeds. They are cultivated for both human and animal food, in addition to being grown as ornamentals. A legume (/ˈlɛɡjuːm/ or /ˌləˈɡjuːm/) is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their food grain seed (example beans and lentils, or generally pulse), for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. : any of a large family (Leguminosae syn. Fabaceae, the legume family) of dicotyledonous herbs, shrubs, and trees having fruits that are legumes (sense 3) or loments, bearing nodules on the roots that contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and including important food and forage plants (as peas, beans, or clovers). The most common varieties of legumes are beans. These include adzuki beans, black beans, soybeans, anasazi beans, fava beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans and lima beans. These foods are high in protein and carbohydrates but low in fat.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/legumes http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/list-legume-foods-4212.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-legumes.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legume http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/list-legume-foods-4212.html
what is a legumes