Lentils - Lentils

Japanese: ヒラマメ - ひらまめ

An annual plant of the legume family cultivated for its edible seeds. It is a relatively small plant, growing to a height of 20-80 cm, and is covered with soft hairs all over. It has about 10 narrowly elliptical leaflets that form an even-pinnate compound leaf, and the terminal leaflet usually grows into a short tendril. It produces 1-4 flowers in an axillary inflorescence. The flowers are white, red, or bluish purple, and the legumes are small, about 1.5-2 cm long, containing two flattened, circular, convex, lenticular seeds (beans). Due to this shape, it is also called lentil. The young pods are used as vegetables, and the beans are mainly milled and eaten in soups.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

種子を食用にするため栽培されるマメ科の一年草。高さ20～80cmになる比較的小型の植物で，全体に柔らかい毛がはえる。狭楕円形の10枚ほどの小葉が偶数羽状複葉をなし，頂小葉は通常短い巻きひげになる。腋生（えきせい）する花序に1～4個の花をつける。花は白，赤あるいは青紫色で，豆果は小さく長さ1.5～2cmほど，中に扁平円形で凸レンズ状の2個の種子(豆)がはいっている。この形からレンズマメともいう。若莢（さや）は野菜に，豆はもっぱら製粉されスープなどにして食用にされる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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