Peas are members of the Fabaceae family.
The Fabaceae family consists mainly of flowering legumes and peas. Fabaceae is considered the third largest family of flowering plants, after Asteraceae, the aster family, and Orchidaceae, the orchid family. The flowering plant family Fabaceae includes about 18,000 species and 400 genera of flowering plants and legumes. Members of this plant family include several commonly cultivated plants. Trees, herbs, vines, and shrubs belonging to this plant family are native to all regions of the world.
Carob trees belong to a subfamily of Fabaceae.
Members of the plant family Fabaceae normally produce leguminous fruits and this trait is considered one of the defining characteristics of the family. Species of this plant family can be found all over the world. Woody, shrubby, or tree-like species are generally native to warmer tropical areas, while herbaceous species generally grow in cooler temperate climates. Some members of the Fabaceae family are commonly cultivated and are considered to be of great economic importance. soy or Glycine max; peanut or Arachis hypogaea; the pea, or Pisum sativum; and alfalfa or Medicago sativa are among these economically important species.
White clover is a member of the Fabaceae family.
Some members of the Fabaceae family produce primarily pea-like flowers, such as members of the Papilionoideae subfamily. Peanuts are members of this subfamily, as are sweet peas and black grasshoppers. Members of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae normally produce bilateral flowers with five separate petals. Members of this subfamily include tamarind, Jerusalem thorn, and carob. Members of the subfamily Mimosoideae generally produce large flowers that grow on spikes or produce multiflowered blooms such as powderleaf or mesquite.
Peanuts are the only member of the Fabaceae family whose pods develop underground.
Many plants in the Fabaceae family may be known as lawn weeds. Trifolium repens, commonly known as white clover, is one of them. Desmodium trifolium, or clover tick, is another. Many members of the family are sometimes used as livestock fodder in their native countries, such as the butterfly pea or Clitoria ternatea. The wood of the Burmese rosewood, or Pterocarpus indicus, is considered valuable by carpenters and cabinetmakers. Another member of this plant family, Indigofera suffruticosa, or West Indian indigo, has historically been used as a source of blue dye.
The one characteristic that almost all members of this family of flowering plants have in common is the production of leguminous fruits. Almost all of these plants produce fruit filled with seeds. Peanuts are probably the only member of this family whose pods develop underground.