Plant Talk

Cowpeas and the African Diaspora: What Can Natural History Collections Add?

Posted in History & People, Plant Science

Cowpeas, which belong to the legume family of plants, are an annual crop—planted anew from seed each year—grown throughout much of the world. Read More

Cowpeas and the African Diaspora, Part Two: A Life-Giving Crop

Posted in History & People, Plant Science

Genetic, historical, and archeological evidence suggests that cowpeas were domesticated in the Sahelian region of West Africa, and perhaps also in East Africa, several thousand ... Read More

Cowpeas and the African Diaspora, Part Three: Can Herbarium Specimens Fill Historical Gaps?

Posted in History & People, Plant Science

Unfortunately, many of the early written records of cowpeas in the Americas are ambiguous, either because the descriptions of the plants are insufficiently detailed to ... Read More