VARIETY FORMS FOR BUSH KIDNEY BEANS. 19 



Color of leaves (very dark green, dark green, medium green, light 

 green, very light green, grayish green, etc.). — Except Blue Pod But- 

 ter and Black Turtle Soup, all bush varieties cultivated in the United 

 States have sohd groon leaves, the de])th of color varying from very 

 dark green, as in Triumph of Frames and other green-seeded sorts, to 

 very light green, as in Bountiful. Some varieties, like Late Refugee 

 and the California field sorts, are peculiar on account of a distinct 

 grayish green color. 



Shape of leaves (narrow across leaflets, medium in width across leaf- 

 lets, wide across leaflets). — Most bean varieties are so similar in the 

 shape of their leaves that this character is referred to in the following 

 descriptions only when the shai)e is imusual. as in Red Valentine and 

 Refugee Wax, which have narrow, j)()inte(l leaflets, and in IMue Pod 

 Butter and Black Turtle Souj), which have extremely broad leaflets. 

 Some varieties are peculiar for being wadest across the base of the 

 leaflets; others, in being widest across the middle portion. 



Surface of leaves (very smooth, smooth, somewhat rough, rough, 

 very rough). — Most bean varieties are generally so alike in leaf sur- 

 face, and this character changes so much from very smooth in well- 

 grown plants to very rough in poorly grown ones, that the smooth- 

 ness and roughness of leaves is not often of assistance in identification. 

 In the following descriptions, therefore, it is referred to only in excep- 

 tional cases, such as in Best of All, wliich has very uniformly rough 

 leaves, and in Crystal Wax and Rogers's Lima Wax, which have very 

 uniformly smooth leaves. 



Length of petiole (short, medium, long). — The length of the stem of 

 bean leaves depends largely upon the location of the leaves on the 

 plants and is usually of but little aid in identification. Varieties like 

 Hodson Wax, with narrow leaflets, generally have very long petioles, 

 while those with broad leaflets, like Best of All, generally have short 

 ones. 



Color ofhlossoms (pink, light pink, very hghtpink, shell pink, etc.). — 

 Except Blue Pod Butter and Lightning, all bush varieties cultivated 

 in this country bear flowers which are either white or some shade of 

 pink. The flowers of some varieties change or wilt to light primrose 

 when old, but are white in color when young and are so classed in the 

 descriptions. 



Uniformity in size of snap pods (very uniform, uniform, somewhat 

 variable, variable, very variable). — Most varieties are quite uniform 

 in the size of their pods, but sometimes, even on the same plant, the 

 size of pods is quite variable. This is especially true with varieties 

 like Boston Favorite which have been neglected in selection. 



Length of snap pods (very short, short, short medium, medium, 

 long, medium long, very long). — wSnap pods range in length from 7 J 

 inches, as in Canadian Wonder, to 3J inches, as in Snowflake. 



109 



