Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Western Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Rare

About

Lentil is one of the oldest cultivated crops on Earth, domesticated over 9,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent — and optical lenses are literally named after the plant because its disc-shaped seeds look identical to a glass lens. The slender annual vine produces small pea-like flowers that mature into flat pods each containing just one or two seeds.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Vicia
Species: Vicia lens