THE JACK BEAN AND THE SWORD BEAN. 35 



different (PL III). According to Roxburgh four varieties of the 

 sword bean are found in India, one having red seeds and red flowers, 

 a second with red seeds and white flowers, a third with white seeds 

 and white flowers, and a fourth with light-gray seeds and red flowers. 

 Three of these varieties are now introduced into the United States. 

 All of them are supposed by most Indian botanists to be derived 

 from a brown-seeded wild plant, Canavali virosa, the seeds of which 

 are reputed poisonous. Macfadyen reports the variety with red 

 flowers and red seeds as cultivated in Jamaica in 1837. This variety 

 does not fully mature as far north as Washington, D. C, but does 

 produce an abundance of green pods in late September and early 

 October. It seems well worthy of attention as a vegetable through- 

 out the Southern States. 



ECONOMIC VALUE. 



The sword bean is commonly cultivated as a vegetable in Japan, 

 India, Burma, Ceylon, Java, Mauritius, and apparently in Africa. 

 In India it is eaten both by the natives and by Europeans, the 

 variety with white seeds being .most esteemed. The young pods are 

 prepared after the manner of snap beans and are well flavored and 

 wholesome. Firminger considers it "about the nicest of all the 

 native vegetables" in India. The very young pods have but little 

 flavor, but when half grown their taste suggests mushrooms. They 

 are best when about half grown, as the full-sized green pods are 

 rather fibrous. The mature seeds do not seem to be much used as 

 food, though they lack the strong odor of those of the jack bean. 



An extended account of the sword bean as grown in Mauritius has 

 been published by Boname, 1 but under the erroneous name Canavali 

 ensiformis. This author highly recommends the green pods as a 

 vegetable and gives analyses showing the composition not only of 

 the entire plant but of the beans and pods, both green and ripe. 



In China and Japan occur two varieties of the sword bean which 

 differ from those of India in that the pods are thicker and the seeds 

 much plumper and distinctly keeled on the back (PL III). This form 

 was described by Thunberg 2 as Dolichos incurvus and by Petit- 

 Thouars as Canavali incurva. The Japanese name is Nata mame 

 and the Chinese Tau tou. One variety has the seeds cream colored, 

 another pink. In Japan "the young pods of the former are pre- 

 served in salt, and the latter is eaten fresh and boiled." 3 Rev. E. R. 

 Miller, of Morioka, Japan, in sending a sample of seed (S. P. I. No. 

 6132) writes "This as a string bean eaten when very young is one of 



1 Boname, P. The sword bean. L'Agriculture Pratique des Pays Chauds, arm. 10, sem. 2, p. 371, 1910. 



2 Thunberg, K. P. Flora Japonica, p. 280, 1784. 



3 Agricultural Society of Japan. Useful Plants of Japan, [v. 1], p. 9, 1S95. 



[Cir. 110] 



