Herbaceous fodder plant of the legume family in Russia is represented by several options. First of all, it is white, pink or It has remarkable fodder qualities, is rich in protein and is successfully used as livestock feed (hence the name - fodder plant).

The most common crop is precisely red clover, which has been cultivated in our country for more than two hundred years. The plant loves moist soil, fertilized with organic matter and mineral mixtures, develops well on neutral or slightly acidic soils. The pink variety is more demanding on the ground and has a slightly bitter taste, so it is worse eaten by animals.

There is another valuable herbaceous fodder plant of the legume family. This is alfalfa. The culture is widespread due to the high digestibility of feed and record fertility in the southern regions. When providing heat and moisture, you can get up to 7 mowings (about 250 centners of hay) per hectare. In areas with no additional irrigation, about 90 centners per hectare can be collected for 2-3 mowings during one season.

Such a fodder plant of the legume family as sainfoin grows well on chernozems; it can successfully develop on stony soils rich in lime; it is a honey plant. Esparcet is cultivated mainly in the North Caucasus, endures droughts, giving about 22 fodder units per centner of the crop when consumed by animals.

Another herbaceous fodder plant of the legume family has been known since ancient Rome and is called "vetch". It is grown in the Caucasus, in some central regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in Belarus. Grain, silage, hay and green fodder are obtained from the crop. At the same time, the latter contains 22 feed units per centner of mass. From one hectare, subject to agricultural technology, you can collect up to 20 centners of grain or about 250 centners of green plant mass, which makes the crop very attractive for participation in crop rotations at livestock farms.

Where does the most unpretentious herbaceous fodder plant of the legume family grow? In terms of resistance to external influences, the sowing rank is in the lead. Its high frost resistance (withstands temperatures down to minus seven degrees Celsius), undemanding to soils, drought resistance make it possible to extend the cultivation area to Western Siberia. The vegetation period (about 112 days) makes it possible to obtain about 230 centners of green plants or about 17 centners of grain per hectare in central Russia. Culture is eaten with pleasure by horses and sheep, less willingly uses it

The herbaceous plant lupine was known in ancient Egypt. It was used to feed both animals and humans (beans). Today it is used to obtain green fertilizers, and also as one hectare of crops, you can collect up to 400 centners of vegetable green mass, or about 15 centners of grain. At the same time, the plant does not contain dangerous alkaloids, because in the mid-30s of the twentieth century, new varieties were bred in the USSR that meet food safety requirements.

In addition, in the western regions of the Russian Federation and in Belarus, one can find a culture such as seradella, which is perfectly adapted to poor sandy and sandy soils. When applying manure from one hectare, you can get up to 298 centners of green mass, which goes to feed livestock. Also, the crop regrows quickly after mowing, which provides excellent opportunities for grazing animals.

leguminous fodder plant

Alternative descriptions

Forage grass of the legume family

Herbaceous plant of the legume family (forage grass)

Woman's name

Tsyganova

legume fodder grass

bean grass

Bean grass for livestock

leguminous plant

leguminous plant for livestock feed

Bean feed for livestock

beans for animals

Victoria in adolescence

Victoria-first-grader

polka dots

Peas for fodder

The girl from the song of the group "Roots"

decorative grass

wild peas

Friendly form of the name Victoria

J. wild peas, moth family; V.cracca, rake, vyazel, mouse pea, goose, crane, povitel; sativa, fodder pea, seedling, mouse, crane, sparrow pea, crane, konyakovka; faba, Russian beans

Famous TV babysitter

The name of the "beautiful nanny"

The name of "my fair nanny" from the series

The name of the singer Tsyganova

fodder grass

fodder leguminous plant

fodder plant

feed peas

fodder peas

fodder beans

honey plant herbaceous plant

My beautiful nanny

Singer ... Tsyganova

Livestock food

A plant that reminds of victory

Plant of the legume family, melliferous

plant, honey plant

Genus of perennial and annual herbaceous plants of the legume family; fodder crop

Rossiysk. singer Tsyganova

Russian singer Tsyganova

Sister of clover and alfalfa

Abbreviated Victoria

Grass for food cows

Grass for livestock feed

Grass for livestock feed

Herbaceous plant that evokes thoughts of victory

Reduced Victoria

Shortened form of the name Victoria

Tsyganova who sings

Victoria

Forage crop, honey plant

Nanny - the role of Zavorotnyuk

Victoria, only shorter

Valuable fodder bean

Grass with a female name

Forage grass with maiden name

Grass and also a maiden name

PEA IN THE FEEDER

leguminous fodder plant

Alternative descriptions

Forage grass of the legume family

Herbaceous plant of the legume family (forage grass)

Woman's name

Tsyganova

legume fodder grass

bean grass

Bean grass for livestock

leguminous plant

leguminous plant for livestock feed

Bean feed for livestock

beans for animals

Victoria in adolescence

Victoria-first-grader

polka dots

Peas for fodder

The girl from the song of the group "Roots"

decorative grass

wild peas

Friendly form of the name Victoria

J. wild peas, moth family; V.cracca, rake, vyazel, mouse pea, goose, crane, povitel; sativa, fodder pea, seedling, mouse, crane, sparrow pea, crane, konyakovka; faba, Russian beans

Famous TV babysitter

The name of the "beautiful nanny"

The name of "my fair nanny" from the series

The name of the singer Tsyganova

fodder grass

fodder leguminous plant

fodder plant

feed peas

fodder peas

fodder beans

honey plant herbaceous plant

My beautiful nanny

Singer ... Tsyganova

Livestock food

A plant that reminds of victory

Plant of the legume family, melliferous

plant, honey plant

Genus of perennial and annual herbaceous plants of the legume family; fodder crop

Rossiysk. singer Tsyganova

Russian singer Tsyganova

Sister of clover and alfalfa

Abbreviated Victoria

Grass for food cows

Grass for livestock feed

Grass for livestock feed

Herbaceous plant that evokes thoughts of victory

Reduced Victoria

Shortened form of the name Victoria

Tsyganova who sings

Victoria

Forage crop, honey plant

Nanny - the role of Zavorotnyuk

Victoria, only shorter

Valuable fodder bean

Grass with a female name

Forage grass with maiden name

Grass and also a maiden name

PEA IN THE FEEDER

Alfalfa

Alfalfa (Medicago - Medicago), a leguminous herbaceous plant, which is the oldest fodder crop. It belongs to the most valuable fodder crops and occupies the largest areas in Russia.
Alfalfa hay is superior in nutritional value to clover hay. Flour made from young alfalfa hay is close to bran in nutritional value. Green mass and alfalfa hay are rich in vitamins (A, B1, B2, C). Alfalfa is also of great agrotechnical importance, as it enriches the soil with a large amount of organic matter and has a high nitrogen-fixing capacity.

Lucerne is distributed mainly in the republics of Central Asia, Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus, in the forest-steppe and steppe regions of Ukraine, in the Voronezh, Kuibyshev and Saratov regions, in Western Siberia and Primorsky Krai.
Alfalfa is sown in its pure form and mixed with cereal grasses. The root of alfalfa is taproot, penetrating up to 5 m in depth. The stem is round, rarely tetrahedral, branching, reaching a height of 1.0-1.5 m (Fig. 86). The inflorescence is a raceme containing 12 to 26 flowers. The fruit is a bean, spirally curved (up to 5 whorls), sickle-shaped or almost straight. A bean contains 4 to 10 seeds.
Seeds are small, bean-shaped, kidney-shaped or angular-round, yellow-brown or brown in color.
Among the numerous types of alfalfa in Russia are cultivated: Asian, European, Caucasian, Mediterranean, Mesopotamian, yellow and blue. The first two species are predominantly distributed: Asian and European alfalfa. The division into types is based on such features as the color of flowers, the shape of the bean, the shape and density of the brush, etc.

Asian alfalfa (M. asiatica - Medicago Asian). The flowers are purple or dark purple in color. Bob of medium size, spirally curved (from 2.5 to 4 twists), dark brown. Seeds bean-shaped, brown.
Varieties of Asian alfalfa: Poltavskaya 1774, Semirechenskaya local, Fergana 700, Khiva, etc.
European alfalfa (M. eusativa - Medicago evsativa). The flowers are light purple, lilac-variegated, yellow-variegated, dark blue and yellow.
The bean is spirally curved (from 1 to 3.5 twists), less often sickle-shaped, the color is light brown or brown. Seeds are reniform, light brown in color.
Varieties of European alfalfa: Marusinskaya 425, Poltavskaya 256 Zaikevicha, Tibetskaya, etc.
Yellow alfalfa (M. falcata - Medicago falcata) The flowers are yellow. The beans are sickle-shaped or straight, light brown. Seeds angular, brown.
Varieties of yellow alfalfa: Krasnokutskaya 4009, Kuban yellow, Kinelskaya 1.

Clover

Clover (Trifolium - Trifolium) - one of the most common legume fodder plants. As a fodder plant, clover is used for hay, silage, pastures, in addition, it is used as a green fertilizer. It is sown in its pure form and mixed with cereals, such crops are the best predecessor for cereals and industrial crops. Clover hay is rich in nutrients, but slightly inferior to alfalfa hay in this respect. The agrotechnical significance of clover lies in its great influence on soil structure.
Clover has been cultivated in our country for a long time and every year it becomes more and more widespread. It is cultivated in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and other regions.

Clover has a powerful root system. The clover stem is erect, creeping and branching (Fig. 87). Inflorescence - head, rounded or oblong-rounded. The corolla of the flower is painted in red, white or pink.
The bean fruit has one, two, three, and four seeds. Seeds are small, ovoid, heart-shaped, round-ovate. The color of the seeds is varied: violet-yellow, greenish-yellow, dark green, purple. The surface of the seeds is shiny. The absolute weight ranges from 0.68 to 1.6 g. The length of the seeds is up to 2.5 mm. There are eight types of clover in the culture, of which red, pink, and white are the most common. These three species of clover are perennials.
Red clover (T. pratense - Trifolium pratense) is most common in crops (see Fig. 87). Under favorable conditions, the plant reaches 1.5 m in height. The flowers are red, pink and sometimes yellow-white. Seeds ovoid, violet-yellow or greenish-yellow. The absolute weight of the seeds is about 1.72 g. The length of the seeds is up to 2 mm.
Varieties of red clover; Amursky 11, Central Russian, Tomsk local, Glukhovsky local, Perm local, etc.
Pink clover (T hybridum L. - Trifolium hybridum). The flowers are pink. The fruit is a bean with one or two seeds. Seeds are small, flattened, dark green. The absolute weight of the seeds is 0.68 g.
White clover (T. repens L. - Trifolium repens) is characterized by good winter hardiness and is valued as a pasture crop. The flowers are white. Bob - two- and four-seed. Seeds are round, small, yellow.

Sainfoin

Sainfoin (Onobrychis. - Onobrychis) is a perennial legume fodder plant. Nutrient content and yield
when sown for hay in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of Russia, it is not inferior to alfalfa. Sainfoin hay contains over 15% protein. Esparcet is a good honey plant.
Its culture became widespread during the years of the first and second five-year plans. Currently, the area under sainfoin crops is increasing every year.
Esparcet is cultivated in the forest-steppe and steppe regions of Ukraine, in the central black earth regions, in the Volga region, in the steppe regions of Bashkiria and Tatarstan, in the North Caucasus, in Transcaucasia. Sainfoin is sown in its pure form or mixed with other fodder grasses.

Esparcet is drought-resistant, it has a strong root system, it grows well on sandy and stony soils. Sainfoin promotes the absorption of soil phosphorus by other plants. The stem is pubescent, the height of the stem is from 40 to 120 cm or more (Fig. 88), the inflorescence is a brush. Flowers pink in various shades. The fruit is a non-cracking one-seeded bean, 4.5 to 8.5 mm long. The surface of the beans is covered with a network of convex veins. Seeds are bean-shaped, yellow-white or yellow-brown. Seed length 4.0-4.5 mm. The absolute weight of seeds is 13-18 g.
Varieties: Transcaucasian bi-cutting, AzNIKHI 18, AzNIKHI 74, Nakhichevan local, Sandy 1251, Ukrainian 2795, etc.

sweet clover

Sweet clover (Melilotus - Melilotus) from the legume family is an annual or biennial plant. Sweet clover is used to produce hay, as a silage and pasture crop, at the same time it is a good honey plant. Sweet clover is of great importance in creating a food base in arid regions.
Its culture matters in such areas as Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Bashkiria, the Volga region, Estonian, Latvia and Ukraine. In the wild, sweet clover is widely distributed in many regions of Russia.

The sweet clover has a powerful root system, a straight, high stem, sometimes reaching a height of 3 m. The inflorescence is a brush. Flowers are white or yellow. The fruit is a bean, often one-seeded, rounded ovoid. The length of the beans is 2.5-5.0 mm, the color is gray-brown, yellow, yellow-brown. The surface is reticulate or wrinkled (Fig. 89).
Oval-shaped seeds, plain or patterned.
The sweet clover plant and seeds contain coumarin, which gives them a strong odor. The admixture of sweet clover seeds in a batch of cereals is undesirable. During storage, the grain perceives the smell of sweet clover, and this smell is transferred to processed products - flour and cereals.
Currently, coumarin-free sweet clover varieties bred by Soviet breeders are being introduced into agriculture.
The absolute weight of seeds is on average 20 g, in crops the most common is white (Melilotus albus) and yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis).
White sweet clover has the greatest practical importance among the species of sweet clover. It has biennial and annual forms. The flowers are white. Bob - one-seeded with a mesh surface. Seeds are round-ovoid, slightly flattened, 2.0-2.5 mm long, yellow-brown in color, with a smooth, matte surface.
Varieties of white sweet clover: Omsky 4032, Veselo-Podolyansky 1146, Alfalfa 9654, Siberian, etc.
Yellow, or medicinal, sweet clover is a biennial or annual plant. Used as a fodder or medicinal plant. Its flowers are yellow. Bob is single-seeded, rarely two-seeded. Seeds are round-ovoid, slightly flattened, 1.75-2.00 mm long. On the surface, they usually have violet-black spots or smears.

Lupine

Lupine (Lupinus - Lupinus from the legume family) has annual and perennial forms. The root system of lupine is highly developed and has the ability to absorb nutrients from sparingly soluble compounds.
The stem is ribbed or round, reaching a height of up to 1.5-2.0 m in some varieties. Inflorescence - apical brush Flowers white, pink, purple, yellow, blue. The fruit is a bean, elongated-rhombic in shape, pubescent. The bean contains 2 to 8 seeds and in most varieties it cracks when ripe. Seeds are kidney-shaped, ovoid, rounded, flattened, with characteristic tubercles at the hilum, pink-gray with black specks, gray with a marbled pattern, white and pinkish-cream. Lupine seeds are rich in proteins, the content of which ranges from 32 to 48%. Lupine seeds contain alkaloids (1-2%); lupine - C10H19NO, lupinidine - C15H26N2, lupanin - C15H24N2O, etc., which determine the poisonous properties and bitter taste of lupine seeds. The presence of alkaloids in lupine seeds prevents its use for feed. Therefore, it was mainly used as a green fertilizer.
The varieties of low-alkaloid and non-alkaloid lupine bred by Soviet breeders open up wide opportunities for using lupine for livestock feed, as well as in the food industry. The main areas of lupine culture are the northwestern regions of Ukraine, Belarus, the southwestern regions of Russia and Transcaucasia.
In crops in Russia, the following types of lupine are most common: narrow-leaved, yellow, white.
Narrow-leaved, or blue, lupine (L. angustifolius - Lupinus angustifolius) is an annual plant with narrow leaves. The flowers are blue, purple, blue, pink, white. The seeds are large, 6-8 mm long, kidney-shaped, gray in color with a marbled pattern. The absolute weight of the seeds is 130-200 g.
Yellow lupine (L. Luteus - Lupinus luteus) is an annual plant with yellow flowers. Seeds are kidney-shaped, white-pink or gray-motley, in terms of protein content it occupies the first place among other types of lupine. The absolute weight of seeds is 110-200 g.
White lupine (L. albus - Lupinus albus) is an annual plant with white flowers. Seeds flattened, quadrangular, with slightly rounded corners, white with a slight pink-cream tint.

Seradella

Seradella (Ornithopus sativus - Ornithopus sativus) is an annual herbaceous leguminous plant. Introduced into culture relatively recently. Cultivated usually for green manure and as a honey plant. It is a valuable fodder plant (pasture and silage). Nutritionally close to red clover.
It is cultivated in the Leningrad, Smolensk and Tver regions, in Belarus and some regions of Ukraine.
The fruit of the seradella is a bean with a reticulate-wrinkled surface, greenish or gray in color, which breaks up into segments when ripe, which are sometimes called seeds.
Seeds are round-ovoid, dark yellow. Seed length 2.0-5.2 mm. Absolute weight 3-5 g.

All adults and even children know beans and peas, beans and lentils, fragrant acacias and clover, peanuts and mimosa, and meanwhile, all these are plants of the legume (or moth) family. An extensive group, it is difficult to overestimate the benefits of which for a person. We eat these plants, we plant them for beauty, we improve the soil with them, we use wood, we dye our clothes, and we even heal ourselves.

Legume family: general characteristics

The family, familiar to everyone from school, unites a huge number of species, according to rough estimates, about 17-18 thousand. Botanists divide it into three subfamilies (based on the structure of the flower): caesalpinia, mimosa, moth. It is interesting to note that leguminous plants include the genus Astragalus, which has the largest number of species among flowering plants (about 2400). Plants of this family have a fairly large habitat both in the hot tropics (mainly caesalpine and mimosa), and in the Far North, in deserts and savannahs.

Nitrogen fixation is a hallmark of the entire family. The roots of leguminous plants have nodules, which are formed as a result of the growth of parenchymal tissue. And this, in turn, is explained by the introduction and settlement inside the plant of nitrogen-fixing bacteria belonging to the genus Rhizobium. They have an amazing ability to absorb and accumulate atmospheric nitrogen, which is later used by the plant itself for its growth. Such large reserves of a vital element have a good effect on the environment. Legumes are great for improving soil fertility. This is widely used both on an industrial scale and by competent and knowledgeable gardeners who do not forget to alternate planting different crops in their area. Every year, they return about 100-140 kilograms of nitrogen back to the soil per hectare.

The structure of the leaves of leguminous plants

Leguminous plants can have different leaf shapes. They can be conditionally divided into several groups:

• paired pinnate and doubly pinnate (pea, yellow acacia) leaves, they are located on both sides of the stem;
• simplified (reduced to one apical leaf);
• falsely simple, formed as a result of the fusion of two apical leaves;
• phyllodes (in African species of acacias) are flattened leaf petioles.

Leguminous plants are characterized by an amazing property - parotid leaves can fold at night. This is due to the fact that there are thickenings at the base of the petioles, which, due to a change in turgor, set the leaf blade or only the leaves in motion. For example, shy mimosa is able to do this instantly, since even a light touch of its leaves causes an instant loss of osmotic pressure in them. This property was noticed a very long time ago and was the reason for naming the plant so.

flower and inflorescence

Leguminous plants can have various inflorescences, but most often it is a panicle or brush, sometimes capitate brushes (clover), much less often they are reduced to one flower. Representatives of the family are characterized by cross-pollination, in which pollen from one flower is transferred to another much less often by insects (bees, bumblebees) or bats and birds in tropical species.

The flowers of leguminous plants can be zygomorphic or actinomorphic (for example, mimosas). The calyx usually consists of four, less often of five sepals, which grow together. There are 5 petals (for all moths and some representatives of two other subfamilies) or 4. Their name and division are very interesting, depending on the function performed. So, the topmost and largest was called the "flag", it attracts insects that pollinate the plant. The petals located on the sides are commonly called wings, and this is a kind of "landing area". The innermost, as a rule, grow together along the lower edge and form a boat that protects the stamens and pistil from insects that are not pollinators. But, for example, in mimosa, all petals are of the same shape - free or fused.

The fruits of leguminous plants

In this case, there is an absolute unity of all species of the family. The fruit is called a bean (single- or multi-seeded), opening along the dorsal or ventral suture. Seeds inside the fruit are quite large, with or without endosperm, cotyledons are well developed. The appearance of the bean can be absolutely any, as well as the size. In some species, its length reaches one and a half meters. Seed dispersal sometimes occurs on its own, when the valves of the fruit, when opened, twist in a spiral, and they scatter in different directions, for example, in an acacia. Some tropical species are dispersed by animals or birds. The ovary of the familiar peanut (peanut) due to negative geotropism, that is, the ability to grow and develop in a certain direction, when formed, goes into the soil by 8-10 cm, where the fruit then develops.

The value of legumes in the economy

In terms of practical importance for humans, plants of the legume family are second only to cereals. Among them are a huge number of food crops of world importance: soybeans, peas, beans, peanuts, chickpeas, lentils and many others. Some of them have been cultivated by people for more than a millennium.

Leguminous plants are of great importance as forage grasses, this category includes: clover, alfalfa, lupine, sainfoin, etc. Some tropical members of the family (for example, logwood, pericopsis, dalbergia) are a source of valuable and highly decorative wood, painted in pink, almost red, dark brown or almost black.

Decorative and medicinal value

There are also ornamental species among legumes, such as wisteria. This is a woody species native to China with large racemes of fragrant inflorescences. A very popular garden and park plant. Another representative is the whitened acacia, which is widespread on the Black Sea coast. From herbaceous gardens, for example, sweet peas, lupins are grown. Everyone knows the indigo color, but few people know that the dye of the same name is obtained from the indigo dye plant, a small shrub from the legume family.

Some species have long been used in medicine: fenugreek, astragalus, sweet clover, etc. Everyone is familiar with licorice, or naked licorice. It is a herbaceous legume that is widely used throughout the world as a cough medicine (healing properties have been known since ancient Egypt). Its roots and rhizomes are used for this. In some European countries, licorice sweets are very popular, which even children love. They have a characteristic black glossy color.