ID on ?edible pea
 

Can anybody give me an ID on this pea?

http://box.net/public/richwrig/dfiles/ClimbingPea.jpg

It grows in late winter/early spring (Sydney, Australia) as a climber
up to 3 m (10 feet).

The pods, which are reasonably sweet and tasty, have a peculiar
appearance of being closed by a purplish zipper.

The location is on the edge of a communal vegetable garden but none of
the community is ever there when I pass by.

What is the speciesd/variety? Is it edible?

In article , Richard Wright wrote:
Can anybody give me an ID on this pea?

http://box.net/public/richwrig/dfiles/ClimbingPea.jpg

It's _Lablab purpureus_ (syn: Dolichos lablab) AKA Hyacinth bean.

See http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV019 for a bit of info. Google will
find many other links, a couple of the more authoritative a

http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/GBASE/DATA/PF000047.HTM and
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A114

Seeds are eaten, sometimes as "green peas"; but I've always thought
them a bit sus as they're rather bitter (especially the pods). Note:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Dolicla.htm

There's a huge range of types and subspecies, some are much more
suitable than others as a potential culinary bean.

It grows in late winter/early spring (Sydney, Australia) as a climber
up to 3 m (10 feet).

Yeah. The one you have is a garden type rather than a "field bean"
like the Australian cultivars Rongai and Highworth. The NSW
department has released a white-seeded variety (Koala IIRC) which, I
presume, is intended as a pulse crop for export as a dal.

The pods, which are reasonably sweet and tasty, have a peculiar
appearance of being closed by a purplish zipper.

The location is on the edge of a communal vegetable garden but none of
the community is ever there when I pass by.

What is the speciesd/variety? Is it edible?

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID