yellow Lentil is the common name for a small, bushy annual plant, Lens culinaris, of the legume family Fabaceae, characterized by slender, branched stems and edible, lens-shaped seeds growing in short, flat pods. Lentil also refers to these round, flattened, protein-rich seeds, which are one of the earliest known cultivated foods. Daal and pulse are other names applied to this plant. The term sometimes is applied to members of all four species in the Lens genus and to their edible seeds.