Cowpea

The Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is one of several species of the widely cultivated genus Vigna. Four cultivated subspecies are recognised:

• V. unguiculata ssp. cylindrica Catjang
• V. unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana Black-eyed pea
• V. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis Yardlong bean
• V. unguiculata ssp. unguiculata Southern pea

These beans are now most commonly grown in West Africa. Archaeologically, finds are first attested in Egypt in the 3rd millennium BC; also Greek and Roman records point to a kind of bean which is not the broad bean Vicia faba, and was called phaseolus. These were grown in Europe until the end of the Middle Ages, when similar, but more robust species introduced from America replaced them. The name Phaseolus was however transferred to the American species and entered botanic nomenclature as a genus name, while the cowpea was named as Vigna unguiculata.

External link

• IITA: Cowpea