Lens culinaris

Botanical Description

Lens culinaris is a much-branched, erect, bushy, annual plant growing 30 - 80cm tall[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Lentil is one of the oldest pulse crops and is of ancient cultivation in western Asia, Egypt and southern Europe. It probably originated in western Asia, from where it eventually spread throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world and into the higher elevations in tropical areas. The earliest records of it being used date back to 11,000 BC in Ancient Greece, though it was another 5,000 years before it was being cultivated regularly. A very important food plant, its nutritious seed has become a staple food for many[ 183 Title Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Publication Author Facciola. S. Publisher Kampong Publications Year 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 Description Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world. , 301 Title Cornucopia II Publication Author Facciola. S. Publisher Kampong Publications, California. Year 1998 ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 Description The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc. ].