Vigna seed unguiculata Cowpea

LATIN NAME: VIGNA UNGUICULATA

COMMON NAME: Cowpea

The cowpea twines the vigorous, climbing or bushy annual with the trifoliate leaves of the three narrow, oval leaflets and the small, white, purple or yellow pea-like flowers that open along the stems through the warm season, the long, slender, curved pods following in the pairs, each pod holding the kidney-shaped seeds in the shades of the cream, the brown and the red. The plant grows quickly and stands the heat and the dry spells well. It likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The nitrogen-fixing roots of the cowpea give it a long place in the research on the drought-tolerant grain legumes of the pea family, and the unguiculata species appears in the studies of the low-water cropping and the seed nutrition. The work looks at the way the plant feeds the soil, the protein-rich beans, and the seed biology. The food scientists value the beans, and the growers of the warm-season legumes keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm kitchen garden, the cowpea twines the warm garden with the leafy vines and the long pods. The beans serve the stews, the salads and the dried stores for the ages, the young pods serve the greens, and the roots enrich the soil. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Twining, protein-rich and heat-proof.

To grow the Cowpea from seed, sow the seeds into the moist, warm drills of the open bed, then cover them well, keep the rows well watered, and the seedlings rise within a week or two.

Keep the rows well watered, and thin the seedlings to the roomy spacing. The twining vines come within the season. Let the young vines climb in the sunny, open ground, and the twining growth will cover the season.

Produces well even when it is too hot and humid for snap beans.
Pods are held on a short vine and mature in about the same time as okra.
May be eaten whole when young or shelled for their seeds when mature.

Vigorous vines 3 to 3 1/2 feet with runners.
Long narrow pods, filled with edible peas good either green or dried.

Easy to grow and sprouts in 8-10 days.
Matures in 60-70 days.