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The word 'bean', for the Old World vegetable, existed in Old English, [3] long before the New World genus Phaseolus was known in Europe. With the Columbian exchange of domestic plants between Europe and the Americas, use of the word was extended to pod-borne seeds of Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna.
The inflorescence is a raceme of yellow, blue, or purple pea flowers. The fruit is a legume pod of varying shapes containing seeds. [4] Familiar food species include the adzuki bean (V. angularis), the black gram (V. mungo), the cowpea (V. unguiculata, including the variety known as the black-eyed pea), and the mung bean (V. radiata).
A pile of raw green beans. Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), [1] [2] although immature or young pods of the runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), yardlong bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis), and hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) are used in a similar way. [3]
Some varieties develop a string along the pod; these are generally cultivated for dry beans, as green stringy beans are not commercially desirable. The beans are smooth, plump, kidney-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, range widely in color and are often mottled in two or more colors. The beans maintain their germination capacity for up to 5 years.
The generic name Phaseolus was introduced by Linnaeus in 1753, [7] from the Latin phaseolus, a diminutive of phasēlus, in turn borrowed from Greek φάσηλος / phasēlos of unknown origin. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The Ancient Greeks probably referred to any bean in a pod as phasēlos , [ 10 ] which at the time, in Europe, were only of Asian origin.
Well-known legumes include beans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides.
[5]: 6 The beans can be of nearly any color. There are many local landraces. Beans vary in size but tend to be small. They mature 60 to 120 days after planting. [6] Other names for this native bean include Pawi, Pavi, Tepari, Escomite, Yori mui, Yorimuni and Yori muni. The name tepary may derive from the Tohono O'odham phrase tʼpawi or "It's a ...
Tuber development and flower production vary according to genotype and environmental factors. Some winged bean varieties do not produce tuberous roots. [1] The winged bean is a tropical plant, and will only flower when the day length is shorter than 12 hours, although some varieties have been reported to be day-length neutral.