A revised classification of the tribe Phaseoleae (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), and its relation to canavanine distribution

The subtribal classification of the tribe Phaseoleae has drifted into disorder since Bentham's (1865) scheme in the Genera Plantarum. A revised classification is here proposed, which for the first time accounts for all of the currently recognized genera. This classification has seven subtribes: Cajaninae, Diocleinae, Kennediinae, Phaseolinae, Glycininae, Ophrestiinae, and Erythrininae, of which the Ophrestiinae is new. A survey for the free amino acid, canavanine, shows that it is most often present in the Diocleinae and Kennediinae and frequently absent in the rest of the tribe.