The scientific name of lentil is Lens culinaris Medikus；; Chinese aliases include bean, bean, lentil and corn bean (figure 10-34); The English name is Lentil Split Pea. Chromosome 2n= 14.

Figure 10-34 lentils

1. Branches with leaves and inflorescences 2. Branches with leaves and pods 3. Wing petals (side) 4. Flag petals 5. Wing petals 6. Keel petals 7. Stamen sheaths and pistils 8. Style and stigma 9. Style and stigma (side) 10. Seeds1/kloc-

(According to Westphal, 1974).

Lentils originated in southwest Asia and eastern Mediterranean. Wild lentils are found in western Turkey and Iraq. As early as 7000-6000 BC, lentils were planted in the Near East and southern Turkey, and were introduced to Egypt before the Neolithic Age, and introduced to central Europe from the Aegean Sea through the Danube Valley. By the Bronze Age, lentils had been widely distributed in the Mediterranean, Asia and Europe. Later, it was introduced to the western hemisphere and distributed in the United States, Mexico, Chile and other countries. Lentils from China were introduced from India. At present, they are mainly distributed in Gansu, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Hebei, Shaanxi, Ningxia and other provinces (regions), with sporadic cultivation in Qinghai and Yunnan, and planting in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.

Lentils, a kind of edible beans originated in the Old World, may be one of the oldest crops, domesticated together with wheat and barley. So far, the most primitive type of cultivated lentils is only found in northern Syria. In the early Neolithic sites in the same area, many lentil remains were identified from 9000 BC to 8000 BC.