The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Communication Legumes of Kerala, India: a checklist Anoop P. Balan & S.V. Predeep 26 April 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 5 | Pages: 18257–18282 DOI: 10.11609/jot.6475.13.5.18257-18282 For Focus, Scope, Aims, and Policies, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/aims_scope For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/policies_various For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2021 | 13(5): 18257–18282 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) OPEN ACCESS htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.6475.13.5.18257-18282 #6475 | Received 26 July 2020 | Final received 17 March 2021 | Finally accepted 10 April 2021 COMMUNICATION Legumes of Kerala, India: a checklist Anoop P. Balan 1 & S.V. Predeep 2 1 KSCSTE-Malabar Botanical Garden and Insttute For Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, Kerala 673014, India. 1 PG Department of Botany, Bishop Abraham Memorial College, Thuruthicad, Pathanamthita, Kerala 689597, India 2 PG Department of Botany, SVR NSS College, T.P. Puram P.O., Vazhoor, Kotayam, Kerala 686505, India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected] Abstract: A checklist of the legumes of Kerala State is presented. This exhaustve checklist is an outcome of extensive feld surveys, collecton, identfcaton and documentaton of family Leguminosae carried out across Kerala State during the period 2006–2019. A total of 448 taxa were recorded under fve subfamilies and 115 genera. The majority of the legumes are herbs and shrubs, the rest being trees and woody climbers. About 81 taxa are endemic to India, especially confned to the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, out of which 17 are endemic to Kerala. The state is home to two Critcally Endangered and six Endangered legumes, facing severe threat of extncton. Crotalaria is the dominant legume genus in the state with 62 taxa followed by Desmodium and Indigofera. About 57 genera are represented by single species each. Legumes are treated according to the latest phylogenetc classifcaton of the Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). Updated nomenclature, habit, natve countries, voucher specimens, and images of endemic and lesser known legumes found in the state are provided. Crotalaria multfora var. kurisumalayana (Sibichen & Nampy) Krishnaraj & N. Mohanan is reduced as a synonym to C. multfora (Arn.) Benth. Keywords: Checklist, Crotalaria multfora, endemic, Kerala, Leguminosae, LPWG, Western Ghats. Editor: M.K. Vasudeva Rao, Shiv Ranjani Housing Society, Pune, India. Date of publicaton: 26 April 2021 (online & print) Citaton: Balan.A.P. & S.V. Predeep (2021). Legumes of Kerala, India: a checklist. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(5): 18257–18282. htps://doi.org/10.11609/ jot.6475.13.5.18257-18282 Copyright: © Balan & Predeep 2021. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: This study was initally funded by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Department of Science & Technology, Government of Kerala through the project ‘Studies on the Legume Flora of Kerala state’ (No. 013/SRSLS/2005/CSTE) during the period 2006-2009. The frst author received fnancial assistance from Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India through the project PDF/2016/001936 during the period 2017-2019. Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Author details: Anoop P. Balan is an Assistant Professor in the PG Department of Botany (SF), Bishop Abraham Memorial College, Thuruthicad, Pathanamthita, Kerala. He was a Natonal Post-Doctoral Fellow (SERB, Govt. of India) and Project Co-Ordinator (KSBB) at KSCSTE-Malabar Botanical Garden & Insttute for Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, Kerala during the period 2017-2020. His area of interest is Plant taxonomy and Legume systematcs. Dr. S.V. Predeep was retred as an Associate Professor in the PG Department of Botany, SVR NSS College, Vazhoor, Kotayam, Kerala. His area of interest is Legume systematcs. Author contributon: SVP designed and conceptualized the study. APB and SVP conducted feld surveys, collecton, identfcaton and documentaton of legumes from all districts of Kerala state. APB prepared the frst draf of the manuscript and SVP contributed in further editons. Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment, Department of Science & Technology, Government of Kerala for fnancial assistance. We are also grateful to the management of SVR NSS College, Vazhoor, Kotayam for the facilites provided for this work. First author is grateful to KSCSTE-Malabar Botanical Garden & Insttute for Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, Kerala for various supports. The help given by Dr. A.J. Robi, BAM College, Thuruthicad, Dr. P.S. Udayan, Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur, Dr. N. Sasidharan, KFRI, Peecchi, Dr. Vivek C. Poulose, Botanical Survey of India, Port Blair and Dr. Rakesh G. Vadhyar, Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore through photographs and literature are thankfully acknowledged. Thanks, are also due to Dr. V.P. Prasad, former Head of Ofce, Central Natonal Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata and the curators of various Indian herbaria for their assistance during herbarium consultaton. Support and assistance from the ofcials of Kerala State Forest Department was invaluable during the feld studies and is also acknowledged with thanks. 18257 J TT Legumes of Kerala Balan & Predeep INTRODUCTION identfcaton and documentaton of all the legumes of the state during the last 14 years to produce a Leguminosae with 770 genera and over 19,500 comprehensive account on the legume fora of Kerala. species (Lewis et al. 2013), are the third largest family Regarding this, recently three new leguminous taxa of fowering plants afer Orchidaceae and Asteraceae. and seven new records have been reported from Kerala Legumes are a signifcant component of nearly all (Predeep et al. 2008, 2009; Predeep & Balan 2010; terrestrial biomes, distributed throughout the world in Balan & Predeep 2016; Balan et al. 2014, 2017). The almost all habitats and are second only to the Poaceae study was initally funded by the Kerala State Council for in their importance to human beings. The family Science, Technology and Environment, Dept. of Science is morphologically, physiologically, and ecologically & Technology, Govt. of Kerala. The present checklist exceptonally diverse, representng one of the most is the frst step before the release of a legume fora of spectacular examples of evolutonary diversifcaton in Kerala and the list is prepared based on the authors’ plants (LPWG 2017). Legumes are grown agriculturally, own collectons, and specimens deposited in various primarily for their seeds called pulses, contributng 33% Indian herbaria and relevant literature. of the dietary protein nitrogen needs of humans (Vance et al. 2000). Many legumes are able to do nitrogen Systematc Treatment fxaton, through symbiotc associaton with Rhizobium Leguminosae (nom. alt. Fabaceae) received its bacteria within root nodules and thereby play an scientfc name from earlier taxonomists due to its important ecological role in the terrestrial nitrogen cycle. characteristc fruit (legume). Since this name was Considering the importance of legumes, the 68th session long in usage even before the code was formulated, of the United Natons General Assembly declared the this name was conserved by the Internatonal Code of year 2016 as the Internatonal Year of Pulses for their Nomenclature (ICN). Another name Fabaceae based on popularisaton internatonally. the type genus Faba Mill. was proposed as an alternate Leguminosae in India are represented by 1,297 name according to the provisions of ICN and both taxa under 179 genera, of which about 23% are strictly names are acceptable following Artcles 18.5 and 18.6 confned to India (Sanjappa 1992). Kerala, one of the of the Shenzhen Code (Turland et al. 2018). The name species-rich states in the country, is exceptonal because Leguminosae or Fabaceae encompasses all the known of its richness in biodiversity and endemism. According leguminous plants under it. Monocarpellary superior to Nayar et al. (2006), Kerala represents about 4,694 ovary