Black-eyed pea

"Black-eyed peas" redirects here. For the hip-hop group, see The Black Eyed Peas.

The black-eyed pea, also called black-eyed bean, a subspecies of the cowpea, is a medium-sized edible bean. Humans first grew the pea probably in West Africa, but it is now grown all over the world.

Black-eyed pea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Vigna
Species:	V. unguiculata
Subspecies:	V. u. subsp. unguiculata
Trinomial name
Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata (L.) Walp.

Close-up of black-eyed peas

In Nigeria, and the Caribbean, a traditional dish called akara is made of mashed black-eyed peas and salt, onions and peppers are added.