Lomentum

Lomentum

The term lomentum, in botany, means a dehiscent dry fruit.
The term lomentum comes from the Latin lomentum “bean curd” (which in ancient Rome was used as a detergent), derived from the theme lo-, lau- di lavĕre “wash”.
The lomentum is a particular type of legume or siliqua (based on the genera), which has a segmentation in correspondence with each seed, but which when ripe is not divided into two valves but into various segments.
The lomentum can consist of a legume, as in the genus Hippocrepis, or a siliqua, as in the genus Cakile.
The genera that present this fruit are: Cakile, Desmodium, Hippocrepis and Hedysarum.