Love this forum. I have never seen a pic of a lentil plant before. It is a beauty.
The pods appear large for such a small legume. But they are lovely. Just searched the web and found that the mature in 85 days. I think I can try them in my zone. I have so many new thing I plan to plant next year since I found this forum. Thanks for the pic. Mel

Thanks Mel for appreciating my work.

I've never seen a live plant before either. Very pretty.

Beautiful photography, chaman. Very interesting subject matter. Please post more.

Jim

Great pic. I've always wondered what a lentil pod would look like. I think I pictured something like a filet bean, only flattened. These remind me of some genie style slippers I had as a child, with the pointy toes. :)

If you get a chance, I'd love to see what the inside of the pods look like when you harvest.

Thanks folks all of you for your interest in the photo. I will post further info. as soon as it is available.
Name of the Lentil in the photo is Tur or Tuver in India and is sold in the same name in Indian grocery stores as fresh pods, as frozen green seeds and dry seeds.
Other Lentils are known to me from Indian sub - continent are Moong(or Mung) , Muth and Urd or Adad, Bengal gram and Masoor. These are used in form of dry seeds and splits with husk removed.Split ones are known as dal in general. When you want to buy splits you will ask for Tur Dal or Moong dal etc.
I will grow Moong , Muth,Urd next year for illustration and post to the forum.
They are grown in many countries since 60 day maturing variety is available now.

Fortunately we had good crop from lentil plants.Some of them got ripend.I am posting one ripe pod to share with GW community.{{gwi:1032381}}

Thank you for sharing this experience with us chaman. This is very interesting. I can now get an idea of the size of the pod.
Mel

This is a beautiful photo, chaman but... of a Pigeon Pea, not a lentil (although the Indian word Tur (aka Toor, Tuvar etc...) is often transplated by Lentil).
Rose-Marie

Here is a link to a lentil plant:

Here is a link that might be useful: Lentil plant

solanum,
Photo you are referring to is of Bengal gram or Channa.It is also one of the Lentils.
Plants that bear the seeds in the pods are known as Legumes.Of all the Legumes, edible ones are known as Lentils.This way the photo you are referring to as well as photoes in this thread and peas ,Mung(moong),muth,adad(urd),moringa,peanuts ,tur(tuver),lima beans, all shelling beans and many more edible Legumes are grouped as Lentils.
All Legumes are Nitrogen fixers.

I have posted some pics. of Tuver or Tuer earlier in the thread.This time I am posting a pic. of the Tuver or Tuer plant to share with you.

Tuver or Tuer Plant

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very nice to see this. i have grown mung bean, which becomes the beautiful golden mung dal, and also the french lentille de puy. i like growing the ones that are staple foods for so many people. how tall is the toor dal plant?

as fall moves in here in the foothills i am thinking about trying lentils as a green cover which will hopefully get a hold during our (projected) remaining warm weeks and then provide some more fibrous material for our yella clay hard pack.

This plant is about 4 feet tall.All plants in a 25 feet row are between 3 to 4 feet in height.
One more pic. of Lentil known as Tuver or Tuvar

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Chaman,

I do believe Solanum is 100% right on in correcting our common Indian propensity for mistranlating various terms with near approximations. In this case we have tranlated the word 'dal', with 'lentil' which should be reserved for the legume properly described by lentil in English: Lens culinaris.

Red lentils might be an acceptable for the husked, i.e. split and hulled form of Lens culinaris, or lentils.

The pictures shown by Chaman are NOT of any LENTIL plant, and are NOT known by this name even in India. Cajanus cajan is commonly called the Pigeon pea in the Anglophone world, gandules in the Spanish of Puerto Rico [as far as I know], toor/tuvar dal in parts of peninsular India and Arhar dal in many parts of northern India.

Please, in a site devoted to Peas, beans and legumes, let us not muddy up waters by propagating ignorance or misinformation. Nowhere in India would it be called a Lentil plant or a lentil. If we are in doubt, let us think first before rushing to refute someone who may be better informed than us.

gautam

vgautam, just read my very first posting in this thread where I have mentioned Lentil (Tuer variety).Edible Legumes are known as Lentils.That way Tuer variety is a Lentil. I have done nothing wrong in continuing the discussion in the thread. In the same way Deshi channa, Kabuli channa,Moong (Mug),Muth, Urd or Adad etc. belong to Lentil group of Legumes.
I wonder how you are not aware of Tuer or Tuver is also a Lentil.
We are not here for criticizing postings impulsively.
If you still have difficulty in understanding the meaning Legumes and Lentils, just refer to any Dictionary or take help of GOOGLE.
Now about the Dal.Splits of Lentils Tuer(Tuver)are known as Tuer(Tuver) Dal,splits of Moong (Mug) are known as Moong Dal ,splits of Muth are known as Muth Dal and that of Adad (Urd) as Adad Dal at hte market place. When they are cooked as soups are also known as Dal at the kitchen.
When a new comer is asking about Lentil plant, there is nothing wrong in picking one of the above mentioned plants to show as illustration.

Just a guess, but what we seem to have here is a case of cultural confusion!

In American or British English, "Lentil" refers only to the seeds of Lens culinaris

However, in Indian English (yes, there are quite a few versions on English out there), "Lentil" means what American English would define as "pulse" or any seed of a legume (peas, bean, lentils).

So, for someone use to using the American version of lentils, neither of chaman's excellent pictures are of a Lens culinaris plant. I believe they are what American English would call a pigeon pea (plant pictures) and a chickpea (pod picture).

Chaman - thanks for posting them - they are excellent pictures!

Bellatrix

Bellatrix,

Thanks for shedding some light on bean nomencature, if only to point out its problems. Now I see why I've had so much difficulty understanding Indian legumes. There are so many, and the naming in English is quite confusing.

Jim

Chaman,

You are living in the USA and employing its English for daily referents.

I am not impulsive but instead critical of your instantaneous dismissal of Solanum, as you might note from my posting.

Also note that i make clear that you are using a common Indian English referent, 'lentil' to translate 'dal', the seed of legumes. When the common language of the culture you and I have adopted as our own use 'lentil' for a specific legume, it is misleading and erroneous to plug in 'lentil' to denote some special usage.

Examine the syntax in your phrase "Lentil group of Legumes": what does that mean? We are asking for some purist version of English. What I am VERY CRITICAL of, though, (and I mention this in my poat) is how you jumped downed Solanum's throat without stopping to consider that he might have made a valid point.

Now you want to cover up your ignorance with more aggression. Tuer Variety? Do you understand what 'variety' denotes in common language and in a botanical context? Two entirely separate things.

Why not: Pigeon peas from my garden? or, Toor Plant (a type of 'lentil') from my garden?

BTW, Chaman, if you have to know, my professional work involves the biochemistry/genetics/genomics of rhizobial membranes, apyrase , PEP carboxylase, P inorganic nutrition, in Medicago truncatula/soybean/tomato/arabidopsis, for the last 27 years. So yes, i do understand a little bit about the definitions of Lentils and Legumes, pigeon peas etc. thank you very much.

gautam

Thanks Bellatrix and Jim for your input.
gautam,I tried to find some info. about Legumes and Lentils and found these two web sites worth posting just for information.
www.foodsubs.com/Lentils.html
www.indianfoodsco.com/Submit/lentilsDal.htm
I hope this will help to clear some confusion.
Neither myself nor any other gardener on GW forums will spread any ignorance intentionally.
I am glad to read about your presentation of your educational background.
Still there is some confusion about Legumes,Beans,French green lentils,brown lentils,beluga lentils etc. and list goes on further more.
I may disagree about some comments or criticism but that does not hurt my feelings.To me it is a good way of learning.