Question: Which is a flowering plant the tolerates sandy soil and low rainfall: Luma or Cowpea?

Context paragraphs:
Spinney Hills, East Quogue: Spinney Hills is in East Quogue, New York on the eastern end of the Long Island Central Pine Barrens region.  It is often used as a hiking, hunting, and off-roading area for dirt bikers, quadders, paintballers, and four-wheelers that includes miles of trails with near beach sand consistency.  Spinney hills gets its name because of Spinney Road, which used to connect the East Quogue side of the hills to Sears Bellows County Park and Flanders (home of the Big Duck) to the north prior to the construction of the Sunrise Highway New York State Route 27.  This region was created by glacial deposits of rock and sand during the last ice age.  The sandy soil also absorbs most rainfall so there are few ponds or rivers in the area.  There is a shallow glacial well in Spinney Hills known as an aquifer, which is where most of the rainfall in the region is stored.  These hills are the continuation of a long east west ridge of hills known as the Ronkonkoma Moraine, which form the 'backbone' of Long Island.  Much of this region is undeveloped other than a sand mine to the west and Southampton Pines to the east.  There have been large scale legal battles between private real estate companies and the Town of Southampton over the future of the area, being it is one of the last expanses of wilderness left on Long Island.  There is a very large native population of white-tailed deer in the region due to lack of natural predators.  In the higher elevations small sections of the hills have an almost alpine-desert look, with sandy open plateaus and extremely dwarfed vegetation .  The Dwarf Pitch Pine which dominate the region grow not much taller than twenty feet in height due to dry, nutrient-poor soil.  There is a desert effect in the Pine Barrens, with relatively higher daytime temperatures and cooler nighttime temperatures than the coast, only a few miles away.  There are spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and Peconic Bay from certain peaks in this region if one knows where to hike.  The consistent ocean breeze at the higher elevations passing through the long brushy needles of the Dwarf Pitch Pines creates a gentle whisping sound, or white noise, adding a peaceful ambience to the big skies and expansiveness one feels in this region.

Cucurbita digitata: Cucurbita digitata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family known by the common names fingerleaf gourd and bitter squash.  It is similar to "Cucurbita californica", "Cucurbita cordata", "Cucurbita cylindrata", and "Cucurbita palmata" and all these species hybridize readily.  These species form the only restricted xerophyte species group in the genus "Cucurbita".  Each member of this species group is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico where they are relatively uncommon.  Each group member is found in hot, arid regions with low rainfall.  They prefer soil that is loose, gravelly, and well-drained.  "C. digitata" is native to northern Baja California at higher elevations, northern Sonora, Mexico, southern Arizona, and southwestern New Mexico.  The juvenile leaves of "C. cylindrata", "C. cordata", "C. digitata", and "C. palmata" show a high degree of similarity, but their mature leaves are visibly different, as are their root structures.  "C. palmata" and "C. digitata" are sympatric, with "C. palmata" separating the ranges of "C. digitata" at the juncture of Baja California, California, and Arizona.  "C. digitata" fruits are clear green mottle that turns yellow at maturity, striped, and round.

Cucurbita palmata: Cucurbita palmata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family known by the common names coyote melon and coyote gourd.  It is similar to "Cucurbita californica", "Cucurbita cordata", "Cucurbita cylindrata", and "Cucurbita digitata" and all these species hybridize readily.  It was first identified by Sereno Watson in 1876.  These species form the only restricted xerophyte species group in the genus "Cucurbita".  Each member of this species group is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico where they are relatively uncommon.  Each group member is found in hot, arid regions with low rainfall.  They prefer soil that is loose, gravelly, and well-drained.  "C. palmata" is native to northeastern Baja California, southeastern California, and southwestern Arizona to a point near the Colorado River.  The juvenile leaves of "C. cylindrata", "C. cordata", "C. digitata", and "C. palmata" show a high degree of similarity, but their mature leaves are visibly different, as are their root structures.  "C. palmata" and "C. digitata" are sympatric, with "C. palmata" separating the ranges of "C. digitata" at the juncture of Baja California, California, and Arizona.  "C. palmata" fruits are diffuse green mottle that turns yellow at maturity, striped, and round.

Cucurbita cylindrata: Cucurbita cylindrata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family.  It is similar to "Cucurbita californica", "Cucurbita cordata", "Cucurbita digitata", and "Cucurbita palmata" and all these species hybridize readily.  These species form the only restricted xerophyte species group in the genus "Cucurbita".  Each member of this species group is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico where they are relatively uncommon.  Each group member is found in hot, arid regions with low rainfall.  They prefer soil that is loose, gravelly, and well-drained.  "C. cylindrata" is found only in the middle portion of Baja California, mostly in Baja California Sur.  Botanists Bemis and Whitaker suggest that "C. cordata" and "C. cylindrata" may be a case of sympatric speciation.  The juvenile leaves of "C. cylindrata", "C. cordata", "C. digitata", and "C. palmata" show a high degree of similarity, but their mature leaves are visibly different, as are their root structures.  "C. cylindrata" fruits are dark green, striped, and round.

Cowpea: The cowpea, "Vigna unguiculata", is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus "Vigna".  Due to its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall it is an important crop in the semi-arid regions across Africa and other countries.  It requires very few inputs, as the plants root nodules are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, making it a valuable crop for resource poor farmers and well-suited to intercropping with other crops.  The whole plant is used as forage for animals, with its use as cattle feed likely responsible for its name.

Cucurbita cordata: Cucurbita cordata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family.  It is similar to "Cucurbita californica", "Cucurbita cylindrata", "Cucurbita digitata", and "Cucurbita palmata" and all these species hybridize readily.  These species form the only restricted xerophyte species group in the genus "Cucurbita".  Each member of this species group is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico where they are relatively uncommon.  Each group member is found in hot, arid regions with low rainfall.  They prefer soil that is loose, gravelly, and well-drained.  "C. cordata" is found only in the vicinity of Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California.  Botanists Bemis and Whitaker suggest that "C. cordata" and "C. cylindrata" may be a case of sympatric speciation.  The juvenile leaves of "C. cylindrata", "C. cordata", "C. digitata", and "C. palmata" show a high degree of similarity, but their mature leaves are visibly different, as are their root structures.  "C. cordata" fruits are gray green, striped, and round.

Limnophila aromatica: Limnophila aromatica (synonym: Limnophila chinensis var.  aromatica; also called rice paddy herb) is a tropical flowering plant in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae.  It is native to Southeast Asia, where it flourishes in hot temperatures and grows most often in watery environments, particularly in flooded rice fields.  It is called "Ngò ôm" or "ngò om" or "ngổ" in Vietnam and used as an herb and also cultivated for use as an aquarium plant.  The plant was introduced to North America in the 1970s due to Vietnamese immigration following the Vietnam War.  It is called "ma om" (ម្អម) in Khmer.  It is used in traditional Cambodian soup dishes and Southern Vietnamese cuisine.  It can grow in flooded rice paddies during wet season but it grows best on drained but still wet sandy soil of harvested rice paddies for a few months after the rainy season ended.  It dies out soon after it flowers.  Rural Cambodians often harvest them and put them on the roof of their houses to dry for later use.

Luma (plant): Luma is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, described as a genus in 1853.  It is native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina.

Salvia chamelaeagnea: Salvia chamelaeagnea is a species of flowering plant in genus "Salvia", known as sages.  It is endemic to South Africa, where it grows on the western coastline of the Cape of Good Hope.  It is a shrubby perennial herb up to 6 ft tall and 4 ft wide.  It bears 3/4 in light violet-blue flowers with pale lower lips and white throats.  The small, green leaves release a slight medicinal odor when brushed.  In the wild, the plant grows in sandy soil in streambeds, open fields, and roadsides.  It is cultivated for gardens.

High marsh: High marsh is a tidal marsh zone located above the Mean Highwater Mark (MHW) which, in contrast to the low marsh zone, is inundated infrequently during periods of extreme high tide and storm surge associated with coastal storms.  The high marsh is the intermittent zone between the low marsh and the uplands, an entirely terrestrial area rarely flooded during events of extreme tidal action caused by severe coastal storms.  The high marsh is distinguished from the low marsh by its sandy soil and higher elevation.  The elevation of the high marsh allows this zone to be covered by the high tide for no more than an hour a day.  With the soil exposed to air for long periods of time, evaporation occurs, leading to high salinity levels, up to four times that of sea water.  Areas of extremely high salinity prohibit plant growth altogether.  These barren sandy areas are known as "salt pans".  Some cordgrass plants do survive here, but are stunted and do not reach their full size.

Supporting paragraphs: Luma (plant) Cowpea
Answer: cowpea