cow peas, black eye peas, and bantu beans

 I took this from a google search page that came up when I searched for crowder peas

Cowpea

The cowpea is one of several species of the widely cultivated genus Vigna. Four subspecies are recognized, of which three are cultivated: Vigna unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana, the wild relative of the cultivated subspecies Vigna unguiculata subsp. Wikipedia

Scientific name: Vigna unguiculata

Rank: Species

Higher classification: Vigna

Lower classifications: Black-eyed pea, Yardlong bean, Catjang

I love my cow peas that I started 2 years ago from 6 seeds.  This year I had a gallon freezer bag full of them.  They are so good that I am going to plant more of them this year.  I do not know which subspecies mine are.  All I know about them is that they came from Italy and they were originally called beans by the seller. 

At the same time I bought some beans that came from Africa called bantu beans.  They are very colorful and also very tasty.  I didn't plant them last year but this year the garden is expanding so there will be room for some of these.  I started out with 6 of these also, and had a jelly jar full of them a year ago.  There is now a half a jelly jar of them :)  I had to taste test them :)  The seeds I have will make a lot of new beans.