What is the difference between sugar snap peas and snow peas? A quick guide to telling them apart
Leaf difference: Sugar snap pea leaves are oblong or ovate-round; snow pea leaves are ovate, with small teeth along the lower edge. Flower difference: Sugar snap pea flowers are solitary or arranged in racemes, white or purplish-red; snow pea flowers are white or purplish-red, arranged in racemes. Fruit difference: Sugar snap pea pods are long oval, while snow pea pods are long oval or flat-round.
1. Leaf difference
Sugar snap pea leaflets are oblong or ovate, about 3 to 5 cm long and about 1 to 2 cm wide, with entire margins.
Snow pea leaves have 4 to 6 leaflets, which are heart-shaped, with fine teeth along the lower edge; the leaflets are ovate, 2 to 5 cm long and 1 to 2.5 cm wide, with entire margins.
2. Flower difference
Sugar snap pea flowers are solitary or 1 to 3 in axillary racemes, with a white or purplish-red corolla.
Snow pea flowers are white or purplish-red, solitary or 1 to 3 in racemes.
3. Fruit difference
Sugar snap pea pods are long oval, about 5 to 10 cm long, with a papery inner lining; the seeds are round, usually 2 to 10 per pod, and green.
Snow pea pods are long oval or flat-round; the seeds are round, cylindrical, oval or flat-round, 2 to 10 per pod, mostly green.