''Pisum'' is a genus of

flowering plants Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

, native to southwest

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and northeast

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It contains one to five species, depending on taxonomic interpretation; the International Legume Database (ILDIS) accepts three species, one with two subspecies: *''

Pisum abyssinicum ''Pisum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to southwest Asia and northeast Africa. It contains one to five species, depending on taxonomic interpretation; the International Legume Database (ILDIS) accepts three speci ...

'' ( syn. ''P. sativum'' subsp. ''abyssinicum'') *''

Pisum fulvum ''Pisum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to southwest Asia and northeast Africa. It contains one to five species, depending on taxonomic interpretation; the International Legume Database (ILDIS) accepts three speci ...

'' *''

Pisum sativum The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

'' - pea **''Pisum sativum'' subsp. ''elatius'' (syn. ''P. elatius'', ''P. syriacum'') **''Pisum sativum'' subsp. ''sativum'' ''Pisum sativum'' (the field or garden pea) is a major human food crop (see

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

and split pea). ''Pisum'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including ''

Bucculatrix pyrivorella ''Bucculatrix pyrivorella'' (pear leaf miner) is a moth of the family Bucculatricidae. It is found in Japan (on the islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu), the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It was described in 1964 by Hiros ...

'',

cabbage moth The cabbage moth (''Mamestra brassicae'') is primarily known as a pest that is responsible for severe crop damage of a wide variety of plant species. The common name, cabbage moth, is a misnomer as the species feeds on many fruits, vegetables, ...

common swift The common swift (''Apus apus'') is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between t ...

ghost moth The ghost moth or ghost swift (''Hepialus humuli'') is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is common throughout Europe, except for in the far south-east. Female ghost moths are larger than males, and exhibit sexual dimorphism with their differ ...

, ''

Hypercompe indecisa ''Hypercompe indecisa'' is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found in Argentina and Uruguay. Larvae have been recorded feeding on ''Beta'', ''Brassica'', ''Citrus'', ''Cucurbita'', ''Datura'', ''Dio ...

'', the nutmeg,

setaceous Hebrew character The setaceous Hebrew character (''Xestia c-nigrum'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found in the Palearctic realm. It is a common specie ...

and

turnip moth ''Agrotis segetum'', sometimes known as the turnip moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is a common European species and it is found in Africa and across ...

. The ''Pisum sativum'' flower has 5 sepals (fused), 5 petals, 10 stamens (9 fused in a staminal tube and 1 stamen is free) and 1 subsessil

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

Etymology

‘Pisum’ is the ancient

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name for the pea.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 304

References

Fabeae Fabaceae genera {{fabeae-stub