Field Pea (redirected from field peas)

Field Pea 

an annual plant of the family Leguminosae. The field pea is a subspecies of the garden pea. It is sometimes classified as the independent species Pisum arvense. The climbing stem reaches 1 m in height. The leaves have narrow, denticulate stipules, and the flowers are red-violet. The dark brown seeds are angular or round.

The field pea grows as a weed among plantings of garden peas. Its seeds, which are difficult to boil, impart a dark color and unpleasant taste to food. The plant is weeded from pea plantings. It is easy to identify owing to its lilac shoots and bracts. Also its seeds cannot be separated by winnowing machines.

The field pea grows well on sandy, sandy-loam, and loamy soils. It is drought resistant and can withstand frosts to — 5°C. It is cultivated, usually in combination with oats, for green feed, hay, and silage. The harvest per hectare of the green mass of the combination is 150–250 quintals, and of hay 30–45 quintals. The field pea seed is a valuable protein food. One kg of the grain contains 1.1 feed units and 185 g of digestible protein. The grain harvest is 10–15 quintals per hectare.