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Fabaceae is the botanical name of a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which includes the plants commonly known as legumes. In its broadest circumscription, used here, the Fabaceae sensu lato, also known by the acceptable alternative name Leguminosae, is the third largest family of flowering plants (after Asteraceae and Orchidaceae) with 650 genera and over 18,000 species. These are commonly called legumes or pulses and the family contains some of our most valuable food crops, such as beans, peas, peanuts, soybeans, and lentils. Other members of the family are important sources of animal feed or green manure, such as lupins, clover, alfalfa, cassia, and soybean. Some genera such as Laburnum, Robinia, Gleditsia, Acacia, Mimosa, and Delonix are ornamental trees and shrubs. Still other members of the family have medicinal or insecticidal properties (for instance Derris) or yield important substances like gum arabic, tannin, dyes, or resins.