Genus Cyamopsis in Subfamily Papilionoideae
In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.
Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.
Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).
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Genus Description
Suggest a correction!Cyamopsis is a small genus of Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, recognized as comprising two species: the cultivated guar bean Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub. and the West African pulse Cyamopsis senegalensis (A. Chev.) (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024). The type species of the genus is Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (POWO, 2024). The plants are erect annual herbs to ~1 m tall, with trifoliolate leaves, lanceolate leaflets, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, and minute, early‑falling stipules (Lewis et al., 2005). Flowers occur in axillary racemes; each flower is papilionaceous, with a pink‑purple standard, well‑developed wings, a gently incurved keel, and a five‑lobed calyx. The superior ovary bears few ovules on axile placentation, and the fruit is a linear, compressed, glabrous pod 2–3 cm long that dehisces along both sutures, releasing two to five seeds.
The two taxa occupy distinct biogeographic centers. Cyamopsis tetragonoloba is native to the Indian subcontinent and now cultivated worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions; C. senegalensis is confined to semi‑arid savannas of West Africa (Senegal, Mali, Niger). Both favour open, sandy or loamy soils at low elevations (
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Cyamopsis dentata ((N.E.Br.) Torre)
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Cyamopsis senegalensis (Guill. & Perr.)
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Cyamopsis serrata (Schinz)
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Cyamopsis tetragonoloba ((L.) Taub.)