Horticulture/Pisum

Pisum is a genus of the family Fabaceae, native to southwest Asia and northeast Africa. ../Pisum sativum/, the field pea or garden pea, is the most commonly cultivated.

Description
Tendrilled vines with compound leaves. The flower has 5 sepals (fused), 5 petal, 10 anthers (9 are fused ,1 free) and 2 carpels(fused). The fruit is a legume (the pea).

Growing conditions
Sunny locations, soils should be rich but well-drained. Seeds are usually inoculated with a bacteria which fixes atmospheric nitrogen for the use of the plant.

Varieties
The genus contains one to five species, depending on taxonomic interpretation; the International Legume Database (ILDIS) accepts three species, one with two subspecies :
 * ../Pisum abyssinicum/ (syn. P. sativum subsp. abyssinicum)
 * ../Pisum fulvum/
 * ../Pisum sativum/ - Pea
 * Pisum sativum subsp. elatius (syn. P. elatius, P. syriacum)
 * Pisum sativum subsp. sativum

Uses
../Pisum sativum/ is commonly grown as a food crop, but all plants in this genus can be used as cover crops.

Pests and diseases
../Powdery Mildew/

../Leaf Spot/, Pod Spot ../Downy Mildew/
 * Ascochyta pinodes
 * Ascochyta pisi

../Damping Off/

../White Mold/ ../Root Rots/
 * ../Sclerotinia sclerotiorum/

../Blight/ ../Wilt/ ../Aphids/ ../Bugs/ ../Thrips/ ../Maggots/ ../Beetles/ ../Caterpillars/ Bucculatrix pyrivorella, Cabbage Moth, Common Swift, Ghost Moth, Hypercompe indecisa, The Nutmeg, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Turnip Moth.
 * ../Sclerotium rolfsii/
 * Fusarium oxysporum pisi
 * Pea Aphid: ../Acyrthosiphon pisum/
 * Green Peach Aphid: ../Myzus persicae/
 * Tarnished Plant Bug: ../Lygus lineolaris/
 * Fourlined Plant Bug: ../Poecilocapsus lineatus/
 * Onions thrips: ../Thrips tabaci/
 * American Serpentine Leafminer: ../Liriomyza trifolii/
 * Pea Leafminer: ../Liriomyza huidobrensis/
 * Seedcorn Maggot: ../Delia platura/
 * Pea Weevil: ../Bruchus pisorum/
 * Pea Leaf Weevil: ../Sitona lineatus/
 * Cucumber Beetles
 * Turnip Moth: ../Agrotis segetum/
 * Pea Moth: ../Cydia nigricana/
 * Stalk Borer: ../Papaipema nebris/
 * Cabbage Looper: ../Trichoplusia ni/
 * Celery Looper: ../Anagrapha falcifera/
 * Speckled Green Fruitworm: ../Orthosia hibisci/
 * Beet Armyworm: ../Spodoptera exigua/