Editing Soybean (section)

===Flowering===
Flowering is [[Photoperiodism|triggered by day length]], often beginning once days become shorter than 12.8 hours.<ref name=MP197Chapter2 /> This trait is highly variable however, with different [[Variety (botany)|varieties]] reacting differently to changing day length.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |author-link=William Shurtleff |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |author-link2=Akiko Aoyagi |title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland (1735–2015): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook |date=2015 |publisher=Soyinfo Center|location=Lafayette|isbn=978-1-928914-80-8 |page=490 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0gtpCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490}}</ref> Soybeans form inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers which are borne in the [[axil]] of the leaf and are white, pink or purple. Though they do not require pollination, they are attractive to bees, because they produce nectar that is high in sugar content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reisig |first=Dominic |title=Soybean flowering, pollination, and bees |url=http://www.ncagr.gov/pollinators/documents/DominicReisig-NCPollinatorProtectionSoybeans.pdf |website=[[North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services]] |access-date=July 15, 2021 |archive-date=June 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628160525/http://www.ncagr.gov/pollinators/documents/DominicReisig-NCPollinatorProtectionSoybeans.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Depending on the soybean variety, node growth may cease once flowering begins. Strains that continue nodal development after flowering are termed "[[Indeterminate growth|indeterminates]]" and are best suited to climates with longer growing seasons.<ref name=MP197Chapter2 /> Often soybeans drop their leaves before the seeds are fully mature.

[[File:Soybean flowers.png|thumb|Small, purple flowers]]

The fruit is a hairy pod that grows in clusters of three to five, each pod is {{convert|3|–|8|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and usually contains two to four (rarely more) [[seed]]s 5–11&nbsp;mm in diameter. Soybean seeds come in a wide variety of sizes and [[husk|hull]] colors such as black, brown, yellow, and green.<ref name=MP197Chapter19 /> Variegated and bicolored seed coats are also common.