A pea, although treated as a vegetable in cooking, is botanically a fruit; the term is most commonly used to describe the small spherical seeds or the pods of the legume Pisum sativum. Pea is an annual plant, with a lifecycle of one year. It is a cool season crop grown in many parts of the world, planting can take place from winter through to early summer depending on location. All cultivated types of peas are viny herbaceous plants with white or pink flowers and leaves consisting of two or three pairs of broad oval leaflets. Pea has been cultivated for thousands of years.