Pea

Peas are small seeds that grow in pods.

Some plants grow low to the ground. Other plants use thin parts to climb up sticks.

These plants like cool weather. They do not like the hot summer sun.

People eat peas in many ways. You can eat them fresh or frozen.

Some peas have thin pods you can eat whole. Others are grown to make dry split peas. These are used to make warm pea soup. Peas are a tasty food for people to eat.

Peas are small seeds that grow inside pods.

These plants grow best in cool weather. They do not like hot summer heat. Some pea plants grow low to the ground. Other kinds are vining plants. These climbers use thin parts called tendrils to grab onto things. They can climb up sticks or metal fences.

People eat peas in many ways. You can eat them fresh, frozen, or canned. Some peas are special. Snow peas have flat pods. Snap peas have thick, round pods. You can eat the whole pod!

Other peas are called field peas. These are grown to make dry split peas. People use them to make pea soup.

Peas have a very long history. People have grown them for at least 7,000 years. In old times, people mostly ate the dry seeds. In Europe, eating fresh green peas was a new idea. Long ago, vendors in Athens sold hot pea soup.

Today, many countries grow peas for food.

Peas are small, round seeds that grow inside long pods.

Many people think of them as a vegetable, but they are actually seeds. Scientists call the pea plant Pisum sativum. This name was given by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Peas are very important because they are a major food crop. They can be eaten fresh, frozen, or canned. Some people even eat the whole pod if it is a special kind.

Growing peas is a way that nature works with the seasons. These plants are cool-season crops. This means they like chilly weather and do not like hot summer heat. They grow best when the soil is not too warm. Most pea plants reach maturity about 60 days after they are planted.

Some peas stay low to the ground. Other kinds are vining plants that like to climb. These climbers use thin parts called tendrils to wrap around sticks or fences.

People often use pea sticks or metal netting to help them climb.

Peas have been part of human history for a very long time. People have grown field peas for at least 7,000 years.

Archaeologists found evidence of peas in places like Turkey and Egypt. In ancient Athens, vendors even sold hot pea soup in the streets.

For a long time, people mostly ate the dry seeds. Eating fresh green peas was a newer idea in Europe. In the 1600s, fresh peas were a luxury for kings and queens.

There are many different types of peas you can find. Garden peas include varieties like Alaska, which takes 55 days to grow. There are also edible-pod peas like snow peas and snap peas.

Snow peas have flat pods with thin walls. Snap peas have thicker, rounded pods. Field peas are different because they are grown to be dried. These are used to make split peas for soups. Major countries like Russia, China, and Canada grow many of these peas.

Learning about peas helps us see how plants are studied. Scientists look at the genome, which is the complete set of instructions for a living thing. The International Pea Genome Sequencing Consortium worked to map this out.

They announced a big part of the map in September 2019. This work helps us understand how the plant grows. It is a lot like how you might study a map to find your way.

Peas connect our past meals to the science of today.

The pea is a versatile pulse or fodder crop known for its edible seeds and pods.

While often called a vegetable, the pea is botanically a seed that develops from the ovary of a flower. This makes the pea pod a fruit. The scientific name for the cultivated pea is *Pisum sativum*, a name given by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Peas are annual plants, meaning they complete their entire life cycle in just one year. They are essential to global agriculture as both a fresh food source and a dry grain.

Growing peas requires specific environmental conditions because they are cool-season crops. They grow best when soil temperatures are moderate and do not thrive in intense summer heat. Instead, they prefer cooler climates or high-elevation tropical areas. Planting can occur anytime from winter to early summer depending on the local climate. Most cultivars reach maturity approximately 60 days after they are planted.

The plants use different growth strategies to reach the sunlight they need.

Pea plants generally fall into two structural categories: low-growing or vining. Vining cultivars produce thin, wiry structures called tendrils. These tendrils coil around objects to help the plant climb upward. To support these climbers, gardeners often use pea sticks, which are branches from woody plants. They might also use metal fences, twine, or netting.

In very dense plantings, the plants can actually provide mutual support to one another. Some varieties, called afila types, have clusters of tendrils instead of traditional leaves.

There are three main functional types of peas: garden peas, edible-pod peas, and field peas. Garden peas include many cultivars, such as 'Alaska' or 'Little Marvel,' which vary in height and maturity time. Edible-pod peas are unique because their pods are tender enough to eat. This group includes snow peas, which have flat pods and thin walls, and snap peas, which have rounded, thicker walls.

Field peas, or *Pisum sativum* subsp. *arvense*, are grown differently. They are often harvested as dry, shelled products for human food or livestock feed. These field peas can be blue, dun, maple, or white in color.

Humanity has a very long history with the pea, with evidence of domestication dating back at least 7,000 years. Archaeological sites near modern-day Turkey show that peas were an important crop in ancient times. In the Mediterranean and Near East, peas have been cultivated since the Neolithic period.

Ancient Greeks and Romans even sold hot pea soup in the streets of Athens. During the Middle Ages, field peas were a vital staple that helped prevent famine. Interestingly, eating fresh green peas was once considered a luxury in early modern Europe. In the 1600s, fresh peas were presented to the French King Louis XIV with great fanfare.

Modern science has allowed us to look deep inside the pea's biological instructions. The pea genome is the complete set of genetic material within the plant. Because the pea has a relatively large genome of 4.45Gb, it was difficult to sequence. The International Pea Genome Sequencing Consortium worked to solve this challenge. In September 2019, they announced a draft assembly that covered 3.92Gb, or 88% of the genome.

This assembly identified 44,791 gene-coding sequences using the French cultivar 'Caméor.' In 2022, researchers even published a pea pangenome to further our understanding.

Peas connect ancient agricultural traditions to modern genetic research. They serve as a bridge between the history of human survival and the future of plant science. From the street vendors of ancient Athens to the high-tech laboratories sequencing DNA, the pea remains a central part of our world. Whether they are being used as livestock feed or served as a delicate luxury in a royal court, peas continue to play a massive role in global food systems.