What is Pea?
{{Taxobox | name = Pea | image = NCI peas in pod.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Peas are contained within a pod | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Fabales]] | familia = [[Fabaceae]] | subfamilia = [[Faboideae]] | tribus = [[Vicieae]] | genus = ''[[Pisum]]'' | species = '''''P. sativum''''' | binomial = ''Pisum sativum'' | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] }} [[File:Pisum sativum MHNT.BOT.2010.12.9.jpg|thumb|''Pisum sativum'']] A '''pea''', although treated as a [[vegetable]] in cooking, is botanically a [[fruit]]; the term is most commonly used to describe the small [[sphere|spherical]] seeds or the [[pod]]s of the legume '''''Pisum sativum'''''.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary - Pea</ref> This was the original [[model organism]] used by [[Gregor Mendel]] in his early work on [[genetics]]. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the [[Fabaceae]] like the [[pigeon pea]] (''Cajanus cajan''), the [[chickpea]], the [[cowpea]] (''Vigna unguiculata'') and the seeds from several species of ''[[Lathyrus]]''. ''P. sativum'' is an [[annual plant]]. It is a cool season crop, planted in winter. The average pea weighs between 0.1 and 0.36 grams.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/pea.html|title=Pea}}</ref> The species is as a fresh vegetable, but is also grown to produce dry peas like the [[split pea]]. These varieties are typically called '''field peas'''. ''P. sativum'' has been cultivated for thousands of years, the sites of cultivation have been described in southern [[Syria]] and southeastern [[Turkey]], and some argue that the cultivation of peas with wheat and barley seems to be associated with the spread of Neolithic agriculture into Europe.<ref>Zohary, Daniel and Hopf, Maria (2000). ''Domestication of Plants in the Old World'', third edition. Oxford: University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-850356-3}} p. 106</ref> ==Description== [[Image:Doperwt rijserwt peulen Pi