TAXONOMY

 The genusTrigonella  L. (Fabaceae) is composed of annual or perennial herbs, with  pinnate leaves, trifoliate, fragrant, and legumes that are characteristic of the family. Trigonella species are widely distributed in the dry regions around Mediterranean, West of Asia, Europe, North and South Africa,  North America, and South Australia . There has been much controversy regarding the number of species, which includes the genus, Fazli  considered 97 species, Vasil’chencko  recognized 128 species, Hector and Hutchinson  recorded about 70 species. In recent studies, Martin et al.  included approximately 100 species and Govaerts et al.  recognized about 93 species. However, the exact number depends on accepted synonymies. Several authors have proposed artificial classifications within the genus to recognize groups of species, in this sense Tutin and Heywood  considered the genus into three subgenera: Trigonella Trifoliastrum, and Foenumgraecum. These subgenera are recognized with based on characters of the shape and outline of calyx and pod. On the other hand, Furry divided cultivated species according to corolla color and calyx characteristics. Ingham  created three groups withinTrigonella, based in its capability results to release cumarine in macerated tissues. However, these classifications do not permit understanding of the genus natural history, for that reason is necessary phylogenetic systematic studies for knowledge of species and their relationships. Several authors have studied the taxonomy of the genus for regions or countries as well as aspects of morphology, cytology, and pollen  The genusTrigonella has a wide diversity of species, including among these toT. foenum-graecum which is the most  popular species in the genus by its countless uses and properties. The taxonomic position of this species is described below based on Snehlata and Payal 

:Kingdom: Plantae  Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order:Fabales Family:Fabaceae Genus:Trigonella Species: foenum-graecum Linn.