THE JACK BEAN AND THE SWORD BEAN. 1 



By C. V. Piper, Agrostologist in Charge of Forage- Crop Investigations. 



THE JACK BEAN. 



During the past few years the jaek bean (Canavali ensiformis) has 

 attracted a good deal of attention in Texas and other Southern 

 States. Many inquiries have been received concerning its agricul- 

 tural value, as under ordinary conditions it grows vigorously and 

 produces large yields of beans. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The jack bean is a bushy, semierect annual plant, growing to a 

 height of 2 to 4 feet. Its stems are rather coarse and become woody 

 toward the base. The rather thickish leaves have a decidedly bitter 

 taste. The flowers are purple, at least in all varieties so far intro- 

 duced. The first blossoms are borne near the base of the stem, so 

 that many of the pods hang low. When mature the pods are hard 

 and firm, 9 to 14 inches long, each containing 10 to 14 seeds. These 

 are pure white, with a brown hilum. Ordinarily the roots are well 

 tubercled, and the plant will withstand much drought. It is re- 

 markably free from insects and fungous diseases and but slightly 

 affected by root-knot. (PI. III.) 



HISTORY. 



The jack bean is a native of the West Indies and the adjacent 

 mainland. In Jamaica, whence it first became well known, it is 

 called the horse bean or the overlook bean. The horse bean of 

 Europe is a very different plant. In Antigua it has been called the 

 Babricou bean, and in this country has been designated the Pearson 

 bean, and recently the wonder bean. 



Owing to confusion with the similar species cultivated in Japan, 

 China, and India, it has also been called the sword bean and the 

 knife bean, but those names properly belong to the Asiatic species. 



The first published description of the plant is by Clusius 2 in 1605, 

 whose figures of the pods and seeds received from Brazil are unmis- 



« Issued Jan. 18, 1913. 2 Clusius, Carolus. Exoticorum, p. 09, 1005. 



[Cir. 110] 29 



