diversity Article Diversity of Useful Mexican Legumes: Analyses of Herbarium Specimen Records Alfonso Delgado-Salinas 1,* , Leticia Torres-Colín 1 , Mario Luna-Cavazos 2 and Robert Bye 3 1 Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico;
[email protected] 2 Postgrado en Botánica, Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus Montecillo, Carretera Mexico Texcoco Km 35.5, Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico;
[email protected] 3 Laboratorio de Etnobotánica, Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Herbarium specimens of wild Mexican Leguminosae with ethnobotanical information are an important resource for understanding human–legume interactions. The 525 useful legume species registered in Mexico’s National Herbarium (MEXU) were analyzed using a hierarchical method and represented in dendrograms. Of these, 244 species noted a single use, while 281 species reported two or more uses. Plants applied for medicinal purposes registered the greatest number of species (351 spp.), followed by those employed as animal food (205 spp.), material sources (197 spp.), environmental modifiers (139 spp.), and food and food additives (119 spp.). This study also suggests that a greater number of uses is concentrated in closely related species-rich taxa rather than in less diverse groups, and that certain uses are clustered in phylogenetically related groups. Of particular Citation: Delgado-Salinas, A.; interest are multipurpose shrubs and trees managed as living fences that satisfy a variety of needs Torres-Colín, L.; Luna-Cavazos, M.; in rural areas.