Pea

The pea is a cool-season legume in the family Fabaceae, given the scientific name Pisum sativum by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, though some sources now treat it as Lathyrus oleraceus. It is an annual plant grown for its pod, most often green but sometimes golden yellow or purple, typically 4 to 10 centimeters long and containing several seeds; botanically the pod is a fruit, since it develops from the ovary of the pea flower. Peas thrive at cool temperatures of 13 to 18 degrees Celsius and come in both low-growing and vining cultivars, with vining types reaching 1 to 2 meters. Archaeological evidence traces the crop to the Mediterranean Basin and Near East as far back as 10,000 BC, and by 2023 China and India together accounted for 86 percent of world production.