The inheritance of three traits, inverted V-shaped mark on
leaves, pod dehiscence and dry pod colour, was studied in
crosses between wild, weedy and cultivated varieties of
cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp. By
cross-pollinating only open flowers that failed to produce
pollen, successful crosses were obtained on wild cowpea as
female parents in contrast to previous attempts.
Inheritance data collected on the parents, Fl, F2 and
backcross progenies, indicate that each of the three traits
is controlled by a single dominant gene in the crosses that
were examined. The wild and the weedy lines carry dominant
genes while the recessive alleles reside in the cultivated
varieties but the genes controlling the traits, in both wild
and weedy cowpea lines are allelic. The symbols Vsm, Dhp
and Bk-2 are assigned to the dominant genes that govern the
presence of the inverted V-shaped mark on leaves, pod
dehiscence and black dry pod colour, respectively. The
significance of these results in cowpea improvement is
discussed.