The ADA clade is the earliest-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae (or Papilionaceae). Evidence for this clade was sparse[3] until recent molecular phylogenies that included basal faboid genera that previously had been poorly sampled.[1][4]
This clade is composed of a morphologically eclectic collection of genera.[4] It is one of only three clades (the other two being Swartzieae and the Cladrastis clade) in Faboideae that lack the 50-Kb plastid DNA inversion that is characteristic of the Meso-Papilionoideae.[4] The name of this clade is informal and is not assumed to have any particular taxonomic rank like the names authorized by the ICBN or the ICPN.[2] The clade does not currently have a node-based definition and no morphological synapomorphies have been identified.