characteristics of a single seed coat fragment still attached 
toa pod valve, and the dimensions of one almost complete 
valve which correlated in form and texture with the pre- 
viously unidentified leguminous type. Although the 
hilum in question is within the size range of P. /unatus, 
the separate ridges of the caruncle excluded the possi- 
bility of its being a lima bean. The hilum characteristics 
of this fragment are similar to those of a rather large 
common bean, but the dimensions and the fibrous to al- 
most woody nature of the associated valve are similar to 
P. coccineus pods. 
The possibility that this material pertained to some 
other species not known as a domesticate was not over- 
looked. Through the courtesy of Dr. Frederick G. 
Meyer, then at the Missouri Botanical Garden, it was 
possible for the senior author to examine a list of species 
compiled from the extensive plant collection of Dr. 
Meyer and Dr. R. L. Dressler. Specimens of legumes 
appearing in their list and which might have fruits sim- 
ilar to the archaeological fragments were examined in 
the herbaria of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the 
Chicago Natural History Museum. None was found to 
correspond to the material in question. By elimination, 
then, as well as by positive characteristics, the identifi- 
‘ation of Phaseolus coccineus was verified. 
Variation inthe Phaseolus vulgaris pods indicated their 
division into three types, each of which is described be- 
low. These types are to be considered as of coordinate 
standing with the typology presented for Southwest 
United States beans by Kaplan (1956). That is, in the 
absence of diagnostic characters which can be obtained 
only from the growing plants and complete herbarium 
specimens, the infraspecific types are without formal 
taxonomic standing. 
