Vigna unguiculata(L.) Walp.

blackeyed pea

WFO wfo-0000189386 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Sunčana Bradley
fig. a Sunčana Bradley, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-12-03 / obs. 106414164
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. b Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 106214032
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. c Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 105496208
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Peter Warren
fig. d Peter Warren, CC0 1.0 / obs. 53662040
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by S.MORE
fig. e S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 113575106
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Peter Warren
fig. f Peter Warren, CC0 1.0 / obs. 12697230
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Peter Warren
fig. g Peter Warren, CC0 1.0 / obs. 57440883
Vigna unguiculata, photographed by Peter Warren
fig. h Peter Warren, CC0 1.0 / obs. 59826173

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 42 botanical countries

Regions where Vigna unguiculata is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBeninBotswanaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabwe Cape Verde
Native distribution of Vigna unguiculata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 129 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Clitoria alba G.Don
  • Dolichos capitatus Wall.
  • Dolichos catiang L.
  • Dolichos catjang Burm.f.
  • Dolichos catjang L.
  • Dolichos cylindricus Moench
  • Dolichos decipiens Burch. ex Harv.
  • Dolichos didjre Forssk.
  • Dolichos echinatulus Blanco
  • Dolichos hastaefolius Schnizl.
  • Dolichos hastatus Lour.
  • Dolichos hastifolius Schnizl.
  • Dolichos hastifolius Stokes
  • Dolichos hispidus Steud.
  • Dolichos leucomelas Kunze
  • Dolichos lubia Forssk.
  • Dolichos melanophtalmus DC.
  • Dolichos melanophthalmus DC.
  • Dolichos monachalis Brot.
  • Dolichos obliquifolius Schnizl.
  • Dolichos protractus Steud.
  • Dolichos sesquipedalis L.
  • Dolichos sesquipedalis Blanco
  • Dolichos sinensis L.

and 105 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.