Glycine is a genus in thebean familyFabaceae. The best known species is thecultivated soybean (Glycine max). While the majority of the species are found only in Australia, the soybean's native range is in East Asia.[2][3] A few species extend from Australia to East Asia (e.g.,G. tomentella andG. tabacina).Glycine species are used as food plants by thelarvae of someLepidoptera species: theengrailed,nutmeg andturnip moths have all been recorded on soybean.
The genus nameGlycine has had a tangled taxonomic history.[4] It was first introduced byCarl Linnaeus in 1753.[5] Linnaeus listed eight species. The first wasGlycine apios, for which he gave the pre-Linnaean synonym "Apios americana".[6] The genus name is derived from the Greekglykys, meaning 'sweet'.[4] Linnaeus'sGlycine apios, now accepted asApios americana, has edible roots, which were used as food byNative Americans in the United States.[7] In 1966,Bernard Verdcourt discovered that the designatedtype species of Linnaeus's genus,Glycine javanica, was actually a member of the genusPueraria with an abnormalinflorescence. Linnaeus's eight species are now placed in seven genera other thanGlycine. Verdcourt proposed that since Linnaeus'sGlycine was so confused, the genus should instead be based on the speciesGlycine clandestina, first described byCarl Ludwig Willdenow in 1802.[8][4] The proposal was agreed in 1978, andGlycineL. is a rejected name in favour of theconserved nameGlycineWilld.[9] A consequence of the changes is that the justification for the genus name no longer exists, since none of the species with edible roots are now placed inGlycine.[4]
^Sherman‐Broyles, Sue; Bombarely, Aureliano; Powell, Adrian F.; Doyle, Jane L.; Egan, Ashley N.; Coate, Jeremy E.; Doyle, Jeff J. (October 2014). "The wild side of a major crop: Soybean's perennial cousins from Down Under".American Journal of Botany.101 (10):1651–1665.doi:10.3732/ajb.1400121.
^Bell, Lindsay W.; Bennett, Richard G.; Ryan, Megan H.; Clarke, Heather (March 2011). "The potential of herbaceous native Australian legumes as grain crops: a review".Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.26 (1):79–81.doi:10.1017/S1742170510000347.
^Linnaeus, Carl (1753)."Glycine".Species Plantarum. Vol. 2. Stockholm: Impensis Laurentii Salvii. pp. 753–754. Retrieved2025-02-20.
^Carlisi, Jackie & Wollard, Dennis (2004). "History, Culture, and Nutrition ofApios americana".Journal of Nutraceuticals, Functional & Medical Foods.4 (3/4):85–92.doi:10.1300/J133v04n03_06.
Barrett, R. L. and M. D. Barrett. (2015). Twenty-seven new species of vascular plants from Western Australia.Nuytsia 26, 21–87.
Pfeil, B. E., et al. (2006). Three new species of northern AustralianGlycine (Fabaceae, Phaseolae),G. gracei,G. montis-douglas andG. syndetika.Australian Systematic Botany 19, 245–258.
Pfeil, B. E. and L. A. Craven. (2002). New taxa inGlycine (Fabaceae: Phaseoleae) from north-western Australia.Australian Systematic Botany 15, 565–573.
Pfeil, B. E., et al. (2001). A review of theGlycine clandestina species complex (Fabaceae, Phaseoleae) reveals two new species.Australian Systematic Botany 14, 891–900.
Pfeil, B. E. and M. D. Tindale. (2001).Glycine. in Flora of NSW, revised edition. Vol. 2. Harden, G. (ed.). Sydney, NSW University Press.
Doyle, J. J., et al. (2000). Confirmation of shared and divergent genomes in theGlycine tabacina polyploid complex (Leguminosae) using histone H3-D sequences.Systematic Botany 25, 437–448.
Tindale, M. D. and L. A. Craven. (1993).Glycine pindanica (Fabaceae: Phaseolae), a new species from west Kimberley, Western Australia.Australian Systematic Botany 6, 371–376.
Tindale, M. D. and L. A. Craven. (1988). Three new species ofGlycine (Fabaceae: Phaseolae) from North-western Australia, with notes on amphicarpy in the genus.Australian Systematic Botany 1, 399–410.
Tindale, M. D. (1986). Taxonomic notes on three Australian and Norfolk Island species ofGlycine Willd. (Fabaceae: Phaseolae) including the choice of a neotype forG. clandestina Wendl.Brunonia 9, 179–191.
Tindale, M. D. (1984). Two new eastern Australian species ofGlycine Willd. (Fabaceae).Brunonia 7, 207–213.
Newell, C. A. and T. Hymowitz. (1980). A taxonomic revision on the genusGlycine subgenusGlycine (Leguminosae).Brittonia 32, 63–69.
Hermann, F. J. (1962). A revision of the genusGlycine and its immediate allies.Tech. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1268.
