Phaseolus coccineus

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Phaseolus coccineus
Illustration Phaseolus coccineus0.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Phaseolus
Species:
P. coccineus
Binomial name
Phaseolus coccineus
L.
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Lipusa formosa (Kunth) Alef.
    • Lipusa multiflora Alef.
    • Phaseolus flavescens Piper
    • Phaseolus formosus Kunth
    • Phaseolus griseus Piper
    • Phaseolus harmsianus Diels
    • Phaseolus leiosepalus Piper
    • Phaseolus multiflorus Lam.
    • Phaseolus multiflorus Willd.
    • Phaseolus obvallatus Schltdl.
    • Phaseolus polyanthus Greenm.
    • Phaseolus prorifirus M.E. Jones
    • Phaseolus striatus Brandegee
    • Phaseolus strigillosus Piper
    • Phaseolus superbus A.DC.
    • Phaseolus sylvestris Kunth
    • Phaseolus vulgaris var. coccineus L.

Phaseolus coccineus, known as runner bean, [2] scarlet runner bean, [2] or multiflora bean, [2] is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, [3] [4] [5] which, however, can also refer to the lima bean, a different species.

Contents

It is grown both as a food plant and an ornamental plant.

Description

Beans of 'Scarlet Runner' cultivar. A similar cultivar, the Japanese runner, looks the same but is almost twice as large. Scarlet Runner beans.jpg
Beans of 'Scarlet Runner' cultivar. A similar cultivar, the Japanese runner, looks the same but is almost twice as large.

This species originated in the mountains of Central America. It was most likely cultivated in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala around 2000 BC. [7] Most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds (though some have white flowers and white seeds) and are often grown as ornamental plants. The vine can grow to 3 metres (9.8 ft) or more in length, [8] its pods can get to 25 centimetres (9.8 in), and its beans can be up to 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) or more. [9]

It differs from the common bean (P. vulgaris) in several respects: the cotyledons stay in the ground during germination, and the plant is a perennial vine with tuberous roots (though it is frequently treated as an annual in colder climates).

The knife-shaped pods are normally green; however, there are very rare varieties bred by amateurs that have very unusual purple pods. An example of such a purple-podded runner bean is 'Aeron Purple Star'. [10]

Runner beans have also been called "Oregon lima bean", [11] and in Nahuatl ayocotl or in Spanish ayocote. Runner beans, like all beans, contain the toxic protein phytohaemagglutinin and thus should be cooked well before eating. [12]

Usage

Runner beans were grown as food plants in North America and Europe from the 1600s, and also as ornamentals for their attractive flowers. However, they came to be used primarily as a garden ornamental plant in North America, including for temporary screening. The flowers attract hummingbirds, bees and other insects. In the UK and other European countries – where the vegetable is a popular choice for kitchen gardens and allotments – the flowers came to be ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans. [13] [14]

The seeds of the plant can be used fresh or as dried beans. The pods are eaten whole while young and not yet fibrous, though they tend to have a rougher surface than the common bean. The starchy roots of this perennial are eaten in Mesoamerica. [13]

The beans are used in many cuisines. It is a popular side vegetable in British cuisine. A variety named 'Judión de la Granja' producing large, white, edible beans is cultivated in San Ildefonso, Spain. [15] It is the basis of a Segovian regional dish also named Judiones de la Granja, in which the beans are mixed with pig's ears, pig's trotters, and chorizo, amongst other ingredients. [16]

In Greece, cultivars of the runner bean with white blossom and white beans are known as fasolia gigantes (φασόλια γίγαντες). They are grown under protective law in the north of Greece within the regions of Kato Nevrokopi, Florina and Kastoria. [17] The beans have an important role in Greek cuisine, appearing in many dishes (such as Gigantes plaki). In English, they are sometimes colloquially referred to as elephant beans. [18] [19] In Austria the coloured versions are cultivated and served as "Käferbohnen" ("beetle-bean"), a dish made of the dry beans with pumpkin seed oil. It is considered a typical dish of regional Austrian cuisine, but dried runner beans are also consumed to a small extent in Germany. In Turkey, runner beans are the main ingredient in bean Pilaki and Piyaz.

Greece and northern Africa are the sources of pods of the runner beans sold as "green beans" in European markets during the cold period. The pods can be identified by their big size and the rougher surface.

Cultivars include: [20]

P. coccineus subsp. darwinianus is a cultivated subspecies, commonly referred to as the botil bean in Mexico.

The related species considered most useful for interbreeding with P. coccineus to increase its genetic diversity are P. dumosus and P. vulgaris . [23]

Related Research Articles

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A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eggplant</span> Plant species, Solanum melongena

Eggplant, aubergine, brinjal, or baigan (GY) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Solanum melongena is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pea</span> Species of flowering plant with edible seeds in the family Fabaceae

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radish</span> Root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae

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<i>Phaseolus</i> Genus of legumes

Phaseolus is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica.

<i>Vicia faba</i> Species of plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae

Vicia faba, commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field bean, tic bean or tick bean. Horse bean, Vicia faba var. equinaPers., is a variety recognized as an accepted name. This legume is very common in Southern European, Northern European, East Asian, Latin American and North African cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zucchini</span> Edible summer squash

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lima bean</span> Species of plant

A lima bean, also commonly known as the butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans.

<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> Species of plant

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, along with other Phaseolus species, is as a member of the legume family Fabaceae. Like most members of this family, common beans acquire the nitrogen they require through an association with rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

<i>Vigna mungo</i> Species of plant

Vigna mungo, also known as black gram, urad bean, urid bean, matimah, matikolai, mash kalai, uzhunnu parippu, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, uddu, or black matpe, is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the Phaseolus to the Vigna genus. The product sold as black lentil is usually the whole urad bean, whereas the split bean is called white lentil. It should not be confused with the much smaller true black lentil.

<i>Lablab</i> Species of plant

Lablab purpureus is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa and India and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food. English language common names include hyacinth bean, lablab-beanbonavist bean/pea, dolichos bean, seim or sem bean, lablab bean, Egyptian kidney bean, Indian bean, bataw and Australian pea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Lablab.

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The asparagus bean is a legume cultivated for its edible green pods containing immature seeds, like the green bean. It is also known as: yardlong bean, pea bean, long-podded cowpea, Chinese long bean, snake bean, bodi, and bora. Despite the common name of "yardlong", the pods are actually only about half a yard long, so the subspecies name sesquipedalis is a more accurate approximation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green bean</span> Unripe, young fruit of cultivars of the bean

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<i>Lobularia maritima</i> Species of flowering plant

Lobularia maritima is a species of low-growing flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. Its common name is sweet alyssum or sweet alison, also commonly referred to as just alyssum.

<i>Parkia speciosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Parkia speciosa, the bitter bean, twisted cluster bean, sator bean, or stink bean, is a plant of the genus Parkia in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, similar to, but stronger than that of the shiitake mushroom, due to sulfur-containing compounds also found in shiitake, truffles and cabbage.

<i>Amaranthus cruentus</i> Species of flowering plant

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gigantes plaki</span> Greek bean dish

Gigantes plaki or Greek giant baked beans, is a Greek dish of large white beans baked in a tomato sauce. Gigantes plaki may be served as a main dish or as a meze. The beans are traditionally fasolia gigantes 'giant beans', a variety of the Phaseolus coccineus.

<i>Cochliasanthus</i> Genus of legumes

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<i>Phaseolus polystachios</i> Species of legume

Phaseolus polystachios, also known as the thicket bean or wild kidney bean, is a perennial, herbaceous vine that is native to North America. It is unique among the Phaseolus in that its native range extends across the eastern temperate United States to southeast Canada, while most Phaseolus are tropical or subtropical. It is the namesake for the Polystachios group clade, which is the most species-rich within Phaseolus. In spite of its common name, it is more closely related to the lima bean, and it holds potential as a crop wild relative due to its resistance to white mold.

References

  1. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
  2. 1 2 3 "Phaseolus coccineus". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. ↑ M. Brink; G. Belay, eds. (2006). Cereals and Pulses. Vol. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 1. PROTA. p. 139. ISBN   90-5782-170-2.
  4. ↑ "Phaseolus coccineus L.". Strand Memorial Herbarium. University of Minnesota. 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Phaseolus coccineus (runner bean)". Invasive Species Compendium. CABI . Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ No Coast Seeds. "Bean - Shinshu Runner". nocoastseeds.ca. Retrieved 16 April 2023. The website shows a side-by-side picture of the Scarlet runner and the Japanese runner.
  7. ↑ Pearman, Georgina (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p. 146. ISBN   0415927463.
  8. ↑ Scarlet Runner Beans – GROWS 10' TALL!! Ancient Beans for Cool Weather. YouTube. 18 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Phaseolus coccineus - Runner Beans" . Retrieved 2023-11-18.www.gardenia.net
  10. 1 2 "Aeron Purple Star Runner Bean Seeds" . Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  11. ↑ "The Beekeeping Resource Leader – Bee Culture Magazine". Bee Culture. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Beans! Beans! The Poisonous Fruit! - Dave's Garden". davesgarden.com. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  13. 1 2 Mahr, Susan. "Scarlet Runner Bean, Phaseolus coccineus". Wisconsin Horticulture. University of Wisconsin - Madison. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Dove, Helena; McHale, Ellen. "Bountiful beans". Royal Botanic Garden Kew. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  15. ↑ "Judiones". Judiones de la Granja. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  16. ↑ "Judiones de La Granja recipe". Judiones de la Granja. 22 June 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  17. ↑ "DOOR". europa.eu.
  18. ↑ "Greek Elephant Beans". Men's Health. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  19. ↑ "Baked elephant beans | Toronto Star". The Toronto Star. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  20. ↑ Phaseolus coccineus. FloriData.
  21. ↑ Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners. "'Akahana Fujimame' Beans". vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/. Cornell Garden Based Learning, Cornell University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Horticulture Section. Retrieved 16 April 2023. "Japanese hyacinth pole bean. Vines bear red flowers and flat, thick and curved pods".
  22. ↑ No Coast Seeds. "Bean - Shinshu Runner". nocoastseeds.ca. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "The Harlan and de Wet Crop Wild Relative Inventory – chapter: Phaseolus coccineus". Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the Government of Norway. Retrieved 12 Sep 2013.
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