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Soybean🫘
Glycine max
ダイズ
An annual legume known as 'meat of the field,' forming the backbone of Japanese food culture through tofu, miso, soy sauce, natto, and soy milk. Rich in protein, lipids, and isoflavones. It fixes nitrogen through symbiosis with rhizobia, also enriching the soil when used in crop rotation.
Identification Points
- ✓Trifoliate compound leaves densely covered with fine hairs
- ✓Brown hairs are conspicuous on stems and leaves
- ✓Small purple to white papilionaceous (butterfly-shaped) flowers
- ✓Pods are flat, covered with fine hairs, and turn brown when mature
Habitat
Fields and farmland
Season
Sowing: May–June, harvest: October–November
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Compound
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Herb
Petal count
5 petals
Petal fusion
Free
Habitat
Cultivated
Ovary position
Superior
Phylogenetic Positionマメ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Fabales > Fabaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (approx. 70–60 million years ago)
Evolution Notes
Fabaceae thrived even in arid and nutrient-poor soils through co-evolution with rhizobia for nitrogen fixation. Soybean is considered native to China and Japan, and has been utilized since the Jomon to Yayoi periods.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification