Encyclopedia

Faboideae

Subfamily of plants

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Source updated August 20, 2026

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The Faboideae is the largest subfamily in the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An alternative name for the subfamily, mostly used in older literature, is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family.

Widely known members of this subfamily include peanuts, peas, lentils, lupin, soybean, and other legumes. The butterfly-shaped flowers are characteristic of the Faboideae subfamily and root nodulation is very common. The species in this subfamily vary enormously in size, from the tiny Lupinus uncialis reaching only 2 cm in height, to Pterocarpus mildbraedii subsp. usumbarensis at up to 75 m (246 ft) height.

01Genera

The type genus, Faba, is a synonym of Vicia, and is listed here as Vicia.

02Systematics

Modern molecular phylogenetics recommend a clade-based classification of Faboideae as a superior alternative to the traditional tribal classification of Polhill:

Faboideae

ADA clade

Angylocalyceae

	Dipterygeae

	Amburaneae

Swartzieae

	Swartzioids

	Atelioids

	Crotalarieae

	Genisteae

	Amorphoids

	Daleoids

Dalbergieae

Adesmia clade

	Dalbergia clade

	Pterocarpus clade

Old World clade

Baphieae

NPAAA clade

	Hypocalypteae

	Mirbelioids

Indigofereae

Millettioids

Barbierieae (Clitoriinae clade)

Core millettioids

Abreae

	Millettieae

	Diocleae

Phaseoloids

Kennediinae clade

Desmodieae

Cajaninae clade

Erythrininae clade

	Psoraleeae

	Phaseoleae clade

Hologalegina

Robinioids

Loteae

	Sesbanieae

	Robinieae

IRLC

Wisterieae

Fabeae

	Hedysareae

	Astragaleae

(=galegoids)

(Papilionoideae)

Note: Minor branches have been omitted.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Faboideae”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Crotalaria.jpg by Marshman at English Wikipedia / Eric Guinther, CC BY-SA 3.0

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