Pea
Pea is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable.
Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name Pisum sativum in 1753. Some sources now treat it as Lathyrus oleraceus; however the need and justification for the change is disputed. The name "Pea" is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea, the cowpea, the seeds from several species of Lathyrus, and Sturt's desert pea.
Each pod contains several seeds, which can have green or yellow cotyledons when mature. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a "pea" flower.
Peas are annual plants, with a life cycle of one year. They are a cool-season crop grown in many parts of the world; planting can take place from winter to early summer depending on location. The average pea weighs between. The immature peas are used as a vegetable, fresh, frozen or canned; varieties of the species typically called [|field peas] are grown to produce dry peas like the split pea shelled from a matured pod. These are the basis of pease porridge and pea soup, staples of medieval cuisine; in Europe, consuming fresh immature green peas was an innovation of early modern cuisine.
Description
A pea is a most commonly green, occasionally golden yellow, or infrequently purple pod-shaped vegetable, widely grown as a cool-season crop. The seeds may be planted as soon as the soil temperature reaches, with the plants growing best at temperatures of. They do not thrive in the summer heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical climates, but do grow well in cooler, high-elevation, tropical areas. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting.Peas have both low-growing and vining cultivars. The vining cultivars grow thin tendrils from leaves that coil around any available support and can climb to be high. A traditional approach to supporting climbing peas is to thrust branches pruned from trees or other woody plants upright into the soil, providing a lattice for the peas to climb. Branches used in this fashion are called pea sticks or sometimes pea brush. Metal fences, twine, or netting supported by a frame are used for the same purpose. In dense plantings, peas give each other some measure of mutual support. Pea plants can self-pollinate.
Genome
The pea karyotype consists of seven chromosomes, five of which are acrocentric and two submetacentric. Despite its scientific popularity, its relatively large genome size made it challenging to sequence compared to other legumes such as Medicago truncatula and soybeans. The International Pea Genome Sequencing Consortium was formed to develop the first pea reference genome, and the draft assembly was officially announced in September 2019. It covers 88% of the genome and predicted 44,791 gene-coding sequences. The pea used for the assembly was the inbred French cultivar "Caméor". In 2022, a pea pangenome was published.Taxonomy
gave the species the scientific name Pisum sativum in 1753. Some sources now treat it as Lathyrus oleraceus, although the need and justification for this change is disputed.Etymology
The term pea originates from the Latin word pisum, which is the latinisation of the Greek πίσον, neuter variant form of πίσος 'pea'. It was adopted into English as the noun pease, as in pease pudding. However, by analogy with other plurals ending in -s, speakers began construing pease as a plural and constructing the singular form by dropping the -s, giving the term pea. This process is known as back-formation.Varieties
Garden peas
There are many varieties of [|garden peas]. Some of the most common varieties are listed here. PMR indicates some degree of powdery mildew resistance; afila types, also called semi-leafless, have clusters of tendrils instead of leaves. Unless otherwise noted these are so called dwarf varieties which grow to an average height of about 1 m. Giving the vines support is recommended, but not required. Extra dwarf are suitable for container growing, reaching only about 25 cm. Tall varieties grow to about 2 m with support required.- Alaska, 55 days
- Tom Thumb / Half Pint, 55 days
- Thomas Laxton / Laxton's Progress / Progress #9, 60–65 days
- Mr. Big, 60 days, 2000 AAS winner
- Little Marvel, 63 days, 1934 AAS winner
- Early Perfection, 65 days
- Kelvedon Wonder, 65 days, 1997 RHS AGM winner
- Sabre, 65 days, PMR
- Homesteader / Lincoln, 67 days
- Miragreen, 68 days
- Serge, 68 days, PMR, afila
- Wando, 68 days
- Green Arrow, 70 days
- Recruit, 70 days, PMR, afila
- Tall Telephone / Alderman, 75 days
Edible-pod peas
- Snow peas have flat pods with thin pod walls. Pods and seeds are eaten when they are very young.
- Snap peas have rounded pods with thick pod walls. Pods and seeds are eaten before maturity.
Snow peas and snap peas both belong to Macrocarpon Group, a cultivar group based on the variety Pisum sativum var. macrocarpum Ser. named in 1825. It was described as having very compressed non-leathery edible pods in the original publication.
Field peas
The field pea is a type of pea sometimes called Pisum sativum subsp. arvense Asch. It is also known as dun pea, Kapucijner pea, or Austrian winter pea, and is one of the oldest domesticated crops, cultivated for at least 7,000 years. Field peas are now grown in many countries for both human consumption and stockfeed. There are several cultivars and colors including blue, dun, maple and white. This pea should not be confused with the cowpea which is sometimes called the "field pea" in warmer climates.It is a climbing annual legume with weak, viny, and relatively succulent stems. Vines often are long, but when grown alone, field pea's weak stems prevent it from growing more than tall. Leaves have two leaflets and a tendril. Flowers are white, pink, or purple. Pods carry seeds that are large, nearly spherical, and white, gray, green, or brown. The root system is relatively shallow and small, but well nodulated.
The field pea is a cool-season legume crop that is grown on over worldwide. It has been an important grain legume crop for millennia, seeds showing domesticated characteristics dating from at least 7,000 years ago have been found in archaeological sites around what is now Turkey. Field peas or "dry peas" are marketed as a dry, shelled product for either human or livestock food, unlike the garden pea, which is marketed as a fresh or canned vegetable. The major producing countries of field peas are Russia and China, followed by Canada, Europe, Australia and the United States. Europe, Australia, Canada and the U.S. raise over and are major exporters of peas. In 2002, there were approximately of field peas grown in the U.S.
Distribution and habitat
The wild pea is restricted to the Mediterranean Basin and the Near East. The earliest archaeological finds of peas date from the late Neolithic era of current Syria, Anatolia, Israel, Iraq, Jordan and Greece. In Egypt, early finds date from –4400 BC in the Nile Delta area, and from c. 3800–3600 BC in Upper Egypt. In northern Europe, specifically Fennoscandia, findings of pea data back to 4000 BC. The pea was also present in Georgia in the 5th millennium BC. Farther east, the finds are younger. Peas were present in Afghanistan c. 2000 BC, in Harappan civilization around modern-day Pakistan and western- and northwestern India in 2250–1750 BC. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, this legume crop appears in the Ganges Basin and southern India.Cultivation
History
In early times, peas were grown mostly for their dry seeds. From plants growing wild in the Mediterranean Basin, constant selection since the Neolithic dawn of agriculture improved their yield.Peas are mentioned in Aristophanes's The Birds. The Greeks and Romans were cultivating this legume from around 500 BC to 400 BC, with vendors in the streets of Athens selling hot pea soup.
In the early 3rd century BC, Theophrastus mentions peas among the legumes that are sown late in the winter because of their tenderness.
In the first and second centuries BC, Cato the Elder and Varro both mention peas in their respective works De agri cultura and De re rustica. It is also mentioned frequently in de re coquinaria by Apicius and occurs in many different recipes.
In the Middle Ages, field peas are constantly mentioned, as they were the staple that kept famine at bay, as Charles the Good, count of Flanders, noted explicitly in 1124.
Green "garden" peas, eaten immature and fresh, were an innovative luxury of Early Modern Europe. In England, the distinction between field peas and garden peas dates from the early 17th century: John Gerard and John Parkinson both mention garden peas. [|Snow and snap peas], which the French called mange-tout, because they were eaten pods and all, were introduced to France from the market gardens of Holland in the time of Henri IV, through the French ambassador. Green peas were introduced from Genoa to the court of Louis XIV of France in January 1660, with some staged fanfare. A hamper of them was presented before the King. They were shelled by the Savoyan comte de Soissons, who had married a niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Little dishes of peas were then presented to the King, the Queen, Cardinal Mazarin and Monsieur, the king's brother. Immediately established and grown for earliness warmed with manure and protected under glass, they were still a luxurious delicacy in 1696, when Mme de Maintenon and Mme de Sevigné each reported that they were "a fashion, a fury".
The first sweet tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England. Modern split peas, with their indigestible skins rubbed off, are a development of the later 19th century. The first pea harvesting machine able to shell peas through impact was invented around 1890 by John Alexander Chisholm.