It seems to me that corn being considered kitnios is due to language confusion. In Yiddish (and German), KORN is the word for rye (or a generic word for grain) which is one of the 5 minim (Kornbroit is made from rye flour). While corn meal can be and is used to make baked goods, one can easily distinguish American corn bread from regular bread made from wheat or a corn tortilla from a flour tortilla.
Re legumes. Bad translation. Legumes are a class of plants that add nitrogen to the soil. The class includes most bean varieties including those that cannot possibly ground to flour like string beans and others (if you grind up peanuts, all you get is peanut butter) and some varieties that no one considers kitnios. For instance. corn, which is generally considered kitnios, is not a legume while alfalfa sprouts, which is, in fact, a legume is not kitnios.
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