The Dwarf Lima Beans. 145 



but this is very improbable. M'Mahon mentions it in 1806 in liie 

 "American Gardener's Calendar : " " What is commonly called the 

 Carolina bean is only a small and early variety of Lima bean." 

 Deane also speaks of it in New England in 1Y97 as "being culti- 

 vated in this climate of late to advantage, " * but he does not men- 

 tion the Lima bean. Gardiner and Hepburn, in the " American 

 Gardener" 1804, do not mention it, although the Lima is recorded. 

 The early cultivation of the plant amongst the Indians and settlers 

 of Carolina, no doubt gave it the name of Carolina bean. The 

 origin of the various other names which it has received is not so 

 easily determined, but since the plant is evidently of tropical origin 

 and is often known in early writings as the West Indian bean, I 

 suppose that its name Saba comes from the island Saba in the West 

 Indies ; and it is not unlikely that Sieva and Sewee are derivations 

 from the same name. The word Civet, which is possibly of 

 European origin, is probably derived from the use of the beans in 

 the dish known as civit stew, f 



lA. The Lima bean is distinguished from the Sieva by its tall 

 growth, lateness, greater susceptibility to cold, perennial in tropical 

 climates, large thick often ovate-lanceolate leaflets, and fewer thick 

 fleshy straight (or sometimes laterally curved) pods without a prom- 

 inent point and not readily splitting open at maturity ; seeds much 

 larger, white, red, black or speckled. Dwarf forms of the Lima are 

 shown in Figs. 27, 28 and 29, and in I^os. 4, 5 and 6 of Fig. 24. 



LinuEeus thought that this bean came from Africa, but it is now 

 well determined that it is South America. Unmistakable seed have 

 been taken from Peruvian tombs and the plant has been found wild 

 in Brazil. I do not know the origin of the word Lima, which, 



* New England Farmer, 2d ed., 23. 



1 1 have made a careful search for the origin of the names of this bean. Pro- 

 fessor Massey, of the North Carolina Experiment Station, to whom I addressed 

 an inquirj% writes as follows : 



" I am sorry tbat I am unable to help you in the search for the origin of the 

 name Sieva, or Sewee, as applied to the small-seeded Lima beau. I have often 

 wondered where the name came from and have looked up all I can find on the 

 subject. The only thing that ever seemed like an explanation was that given 

 by an old mau in South Carolina, who thought it was originally the 'Seaweed' 

 bean, indicating that the seeds had drifted ashore in seaweed. I can find no 

 foundation for this notion, and simply give it for what it is worth. I know of 

 no local name of any section or district from which it could have been derived. 

 It may possibly be a Cherokee name, for their names very commonly ended with 

 double e, and they always give the accent on this last syllable." 



10 



