The peas were already known as food in ancient times and are now one of the most important and most common types of vegetables.
Like French beans, they belong to the legume family, d.h. to the nitrogen-gathering plants. The fruit of the pea is not a "pod", but a sleeve and contains up to 10 Together. The length and shape of the pods and the size and color of the green seeds vary and are considered important distinguishing features of the individual varieties. The range of vegetable peas is divided into, Scarf- and sugar snap peas. Wrinkled peas are distinguished by a wrinkled, sometimes square dry grain and taste superior to shell peas. The dried grain is not to be used for food purposes, as it stays hard when cooked. 
Wrinkled peas are more sensitive to emergence than shell peas and are therefore unsuitable for very early sowing. Shell peas have a round shape, smooth grain and are only of importance for the earliest sowings, since she, climatically, less demanding than wrinkled peas. The tough parchment layer is missing on the inside of the pods of sugar snap peas, so that in addition to the green grain, the pods can also be used.