The chickpea, Cicer arietinum, is a leguminous annual plant in the family Fabaceae grown for its edible seeds. The plant has a branched, straight or bending stem with small feathery leaves arranged alternately on the stem. The leaves are composed of 11-15 individual leaflets which are oval in shape. The flowers are produced singly or in pairs and can be white, pink, purple or blue in color. The seed pod is rhomboid or ellipsoid and contains 1-4 cream, brown, green or black seeds. The chickpea plant can range in height from 20 cm (7.9 in) up to 100 cm (39.4 in) and as an annual, grows over only one growing season. Chickpea may also be referred to as gram pea, garbanzo bean or ceci bean and originate from south-eastern Turkey.