Facts about Red pea

Sylvia

2 years ago

Lathyrus cicera commonly known as Red pea or Red vetchling is an annual cool-season grain legume belonging to Fabaceae / Leguminosae (Pea family). The plant is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and it is known from other places as an introduced species. Some of the popular common names of the plants are Flat-pod peavine, Flatpod peavine, Flat-podded vetchling, Dwarf chickling-vetch, lesser chickpea, Red pea, Chickling-vetch, Red vetchling, Vetchling and wild vetch. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It has occasionally been cultivated in southern Europe for the edible seed. The plant is sometimes grown to stabilize and restore soils. The plant is sometimes a weed of cultivated crops and along the edges of fields.

Red Pea Facts

Red pea Quick Facts
Name:	Red pea
Scientific Name:	Lathyrus cicera
Origin	Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East
Shapes	Hairless dehiscent legume pod
Taste	Astringent, Sweet, pungent

Name	Red pea
Scientific Name	Lathyrus cicera
Native	Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East
Common Names	Flat-pod peavine, Flatpod peavine, Flat-podded vetchling, Dwarf chickling-vetch, Lesser chickpea, Red pea, Chickling-vetch, Red vetchling, Vetchling, wild vetch
Name in Other Languages	Albanian: Vingjra qiqër, vingjër Arabic: Djelbane Bou q’roun, jalban himsiun (جلبان حمصي) Bulgarian: Nakhutovo sekirche (нахутово секирче) Catalan: Guixó cigronenc, guixonera, guixó Chinese: Dui ye xiang wan dou, Xiang wan dou Croatian: Crvena kukavičica Czech: Hrachor cizrnový, hrachor cizrnovitý Danish: Foderfladbaelg, Murstensrød fladbælg Dutch: Kekerlathyrus English: Flat-pod peavine, Flatpod peavine, Flat-podded vetchling, Dwarf chickling-vetch, Lesser chickpea, Red pea, Chickling-vetch, Red vetchling, Vetchling, wild vetch Finnish: Etelännätkelmä French: Gesse chiche, Jarosse, gesse garosse, gesse pois-chiche, gessette, petite gesse German: Futterplatterbse, Platterbse, Kleine Platterbse, Rote Platterbse, Kicher-Platterbse, Kichererbsen-Platterbse Hindi: Khesari, Latri, Latree, Khesari, Kesari dal Hungarian: Csicseri borsó, csicserilednek Italian: Moco, Mochi, Cicerchia cicerchiella, cicherchia Maltese: Gilbiena tas-serp Netherlands: Lathyrus, keker Occitan: Garoulhe, garousse Portuguese: Chícharo-miudo, Cisirão-branco, araca, chícaros, chícharo-branco, chícharo-bravo, chícharos-miudos, cizirão, cizirão-branco, grão-da-gramicha Russian: China Nutovaya (чина нутовая) Serbian: Cастрица Slovak: Hrachor, hrachor cicerovitý Slovene: Cičkasti grahor Spanish: Galgana, Cicércula, Almorta de monte, Titarro, almorta Silvestre, cichercha, diente de muerto, galgarra, guija, guisa Silvestre, lenteja forrajera Swedish: Rödvial Turkish: Colban Ukrainian: China nutova (чина нутова)
Plant Growth Habit	Annual or perennial cool season climbing herb
Growing Climates	Fields and cultivated places
Plant Size	Up to 1 meter
Stem	Stems are prostrate, branching from near the base and often clinging to the surrounding vegetation by means of tendrils
Leaf	Leaves are each made up of two leaflike linear leaflets 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 in) long. They also bear branched, curling tendrils
Flower	Inflorescence holds a single pea flower 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.39 to 0.59 in) wide which is a varying shade of red.
Fruit Shape & Size	Fruit is a hairless dehiscent legume pod
Taste	Astringent, Sweet, pungent
Plant Parts Used	Seeds
Traditional Uses	Oil from the seeds of Grass Pea stimulate Bowel movement.

Plant Description

Red pea is an annual or perennial cool season climbing herb that normally grows up to 1 meter tall from a thin rootstock. The plant is found growing in fields and cultivated places. The stems are prostrate, branching from near the base and often clinging to the surrounding vegetation by means of tendrils. The leaves are each made up of two leaf like linear leaflets 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 in) long. They also bear branched, curling tendrils. The inflorescence holds a single pea flower 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.39 to 0.59 in) wide which is a varying shade of red. It blooms from spring to summer. Fertile flowers are followed by hairless dehiscent legume pod.

Plant-Illustration-of-Red-pea

Flower-of-Red-pea

Leaves-of-Red-pea

Red-pea-plant-growing-wild

Immature-fruit-of-Red-pea

Closer-view-of-flower-of-Red-pea

Seeds-of-Red-pea

Red-pea-plant

Red-pea-saplings

Stem-of-Red-pea

Sketch-of-Red-pea

Tendril-of-Red-pea

Red pea Image Gallery

Culinary Uses

Seedpods must be well cooked.
Pea seeds are used as food in many dishes.
In India, the seeds are dried, split and used to make dal.
In Ethiopia, the seeds are finely ground to make a sauce.
The sauce is supplemented with the Ethiopian traditional dish called Injera.
In Nepal and Bangladesh, seeds are ground to make flour and used for flatbread or roti making.

Other Facts

It is widely cultivated for human consumption and economic use.
The seeds are used for human consumption and the fodder is for livestock feeding.
The pea foliage and seeds are economically used as fodder.
They can be used fresh, dried and as silage.
The plant is used as a green manure and soil cover for preventing erosion and for rehabilitating degraded land.

Precautions

The seed (and possibly the whole plant) is poisonous unless well cooked.
The seed of some species in this genus contain a toxic amino acid that can cause a severe disease of the nervous system known as ‘lathyrism’ if they are eaten in large amounts (although small quantities are said to be nutritious).
Excess and prolonged intake may cause paralysis below the knees in adults and brain damage in children.
It is the cause of neurological disorders in the human body.
Symptoms appear as a paralysis of the muscles below the knees, pains in the back, followed by weakness and stiffness of the legs and progressive locomotive incoordination.

References:

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=25841#null

https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=21553

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lathyrus+cicera

http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-7747

https://npgstest2.agron.iastate.edu/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=21553

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathyrus_cicera

https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/LTHCI

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/31582

http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lathyrus+cicera

https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=LACI

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