Chickpeas

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Chickpea, Cicer arietinum, is a member of the legume, pea, or pulse family, ''Fabaceae. Also called Leguminosae, this family of flowering plants is one of the largest plant families and includes such important plants as beans, peas, peanuts, lupines, alfalfa, clover, and acacia, and many others. As a member of the Faboideae (or Papilionoideae) subfamily, chickpea is characterized by one petal being large and with a crease in it, while the two adjacent petals are on the sides, and the two bottom petals are joined together at the bottom, forming a boat-like structure.

The bushy 60-cm (2-foot) plants bear feathery pinnately compound leaves. The small white or reddish flowers often have distinctive veins in blue or purple and are usually self-pollinated. The yellow-brown or dark green beans are borne one or two to a pod. There are large- and small-seeded varieties