// SPECIES PROFILE · CROP · CULTIVATED

Cowpea / Black-Eyed Pea

Vigna unguiculata

Cowpea is the South's drought-proof legume — black-eyed peas, purple hulls, lady creams, and crowders are all the same species, brought from Africa via the Middle Passage and thoroughly naturalized into Southern foodways for 300 years.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Fabaceae
Group: crop
Native range: Domesticated in West Africa ~5,000 yrs ago
USDA hardiness: Annual; warm-season
Mature size: 1–3 ft
Sun: Full sun
Water: Drought-extremely-hardy
Wildlife value: Pollinated by bumblebees + leafcutter bees; nitrogen fixation enriches soil
Ecological role: heat-loving legume · nitrogen-fixer · drought-hardy heirloom

Cowpea / Black-Eyed Pea (Vigna unguiculata) — *Vigna unguiculata*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Direct sow after soil hits 65°F. Outperforms green beans in NE Oklahoma's August heat by a wide margin. Excellent cover crop for soil building between main crops. 'Six Week Brown', 'Pink Eye Purple Hull', and 'Whippoorwill' are top heirloom varieties.

Why it's on this list: heat-loving legume · nitrogen-fixer · drought-hardy heirloom. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a kitchen-garden polyculture, cowpea / black-eyed pea pairs naturally with: comfrey (Symphytum officinale), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), basil (Ocimum basilicum), common sunflower (Helianthus annuus), eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides), and chile pepper (Capsicum annuum).

In a polyculture bed, cowpea / black-eyed pea pairs with the partners above for pest deterrence, pollination, and soil-building.

Photo Reference

// Vigna unguiculata — Limoncillo
Photo: betogama (iNaturalist, None)

// Vigna unguiculata — Vigna unguiculata stenophylla
Photo: sonukumar055 (iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC)