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Here we report the seed morphology and anatomy of some Nigerian pulses, an investigation that revealed a wide diversity of characteristics in a small collection of seeds. Although these genera share common features, their anatomical differences make it possible to generate a key for identification and classification. Sizes ranged from 5 to 7 × 5 × 3 ㎜ for Cajanus cajan up to 25 to 30 × 18 × 19 ㎜ for Canavalia ensiformis. Seed colors were monochromatic black/brown to dichromatic eye/mottled (streaked), and surfaces were either smooth-glossy or puckered. Forms varied from ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid to spheroid or reniform, and halos (hilar rims) were either complete or incomplete. Lens shapes were spot, linear, broadly linear, or deltoid. The hila were elliptic to linear (or in-between), with sizes ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 ㎜ (Mucuna pruriens) up to 1.5 to 3.0 ㎜ (Phaseolus vulgaris). Their positions could be completely covered, as in P. vulgaris, partially covered and raised above the seed surface (Vigna subterranea), or naked (without any funicular residue) and level with the surface, as in C. ensiformis (Tce1). The aril caps were collar-like in Lablab purpureus or cushion-like, as in M. pruriens. Palisade cell sizes ranged from 80.7 ㎛ in Glycine max to 173.3 nm in C. ensiformis (Tce1), and their shapes varied from a uniformly wall-thickened type (T_1), to a bulbous-end type (T_2), to one with a corrugated structure on the inner wall (T_3). Although these anatomical variations exist, they may not warrant demarcation into sub-familiar or generic classifications. However, we do propose that specific and sub-specific alterations are necessary.
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