the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > plant yielding pulses > collectively (3)
As a mass noun: leguminous plants yielding edible seeds; legumes.
Originally: field crops or their seed grains; fodder for cattle. In later use: plants having pods, pulse (cf. codware, n.1 1).