Cajanus scarabaeoides is a wild relative of Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan). It is the closest related species and they can be easily crossed.
According to available studies Cajanus scarabaeoides is more drought tolerant. It may have cold tolerance also (it grows in both tropic and temperate regions of Asia).
It is supposed to be higher protein, produces crop faster, and has more beans per pod.
The only downside is that it has lower sugar content.
I would love to have this species to grow and cross with pigeon peas, but I cannot find any seed available anywhere.
Does anyone know where I may find a seed source? Anyone have experience growing this species?
I could only find one source for these seeds: ICRISAT. (Set the filter to “Cajanus scarabaeoides”.)
You are required to agree to a legally binding contract if you request seeds from this source. You also might be required to make payments to the “Governing Body” if you offer the requested seeds, or their genetic derivatives, for sale.
Interesting. Looks like that one is a true climbing vine. I’ll have to see what else I can find out about that species, and if it is fully edible or not.
That’s AWESOME! because it measures how crossable Cajanus species are. It means the Cajanus species closer to Cajanus cajan are fully crossable too! The C. scarabaeoides is both in the Wild-Australian & Scarabaeoides Clade (Very interesting, why is that? Mis-ID species or have they already crossed before?). Reguardless, Knowing that means that potentially all Cajanus species are Cross-Compatible! Without any Subgenus or Hybridization Barriers to worry about.
What’s also interesting is the Genus Dunbaria is closely related to Cajanus? Wikipedia says some Dunbaria species make edible tubers? I haven’t looked into this yet.
To find Cajanus scarabaeoides, looks like your gonna have to know or trade with Foragers/Gardeners from India, China, Thailand, Australia according to the Inaturalist map.
I’ve never found Cajanus scarabaeoides beans sold in the Indian or Chinese/Korean International Grocery Stores. Maybe there are some Indian or Chinese Seed Stores that have them? Idk, but you’ve got my interest in finding these seeds too! Along with other useful Cajanus species! It’s a really big Genus with untapped Potential, so lots of Breeding & Crop Improvement open!
OOOH!? How does that company work? Do they actually source seeds from all kinds of suppliers like wild plant foragers? And you could just make a request until they find a supplier? How interesting…
Yeah they are a great company and offer many difficult to find species.
I order from them often, they offer bulk quantities so usually have the best prices available.
They also list the country (or state if it was in the U.S.) where the seeds were sourced.
Wowee! I’ve looked at Sheffield’s before because they have some nifty rare stuff, but haven’t bought anything yet. It is awesome to hear that they’re good to order from.
And it’s very awesome to hear that they can find seeds of hard-to-find species. How do I put in a request? Do I just use their contact form, or is there some other way to do it?
I planted these in the spring, into a pot with regular Pigeon Peas (Cajanus cajan).
I had planted them about a month apart because I had read they usually flower earlier and I was hoping to get cross-pollination. That was a mistake because they did not flower earlier. I think they would have flowered around the same time if planted at the same time. So I got minimal overlap in flowering this year.
There seems to be a LOT of variation within these seeds. Some grew similar to C. cajan with upright growth just smaller looking plants, while others grew like vines and twirled around the larger plants.
The best discovery is that they seem to be way more cold hardy than I had even expected. We have dipped down to around 28°F (possibly lower) multiple times in the last week and the C. scarabaeoides are still hanging on! (C. cajanus was wiped out with the first frost).
I’ll be pulling everything potted into the garage since forecast says we will be dropping to 8°F this weekend
It will be interesting to see if these are still going in the spring. Feeling much more optimistic about cold hardiness potential in any crosses I might get.
[They look pretty rough in the photo but they are alive, also we have not had rain in over a month and I have not been watering]
Oooh, some unusual cold hardiness is very good news. A plant that can handle the occasional light frost is a plant that can be planted an entire month earlier in spring (and often survive an entire month later in fall).
I’m thinking maybe after some selection they could survive winters with a little protection, or be root hardy enough to grow as herbaceous perennials.
And there’s always the chance that some of the hybrid offspring may show more cold hardiness than the parent plant.
That would be really cool. It’s especially promising because you said you saw a lot of genetic diversity in the population, which increases the chances of there being enough traits available in the population to select down from.
