202 VICIA FABA 



markets. During this same period important banquets, 

 known as cinniipcciiix, were given at which it was always 

 the custom to serve beans. 



In Europe, I^]gvpt and Arabia this plant is thus 

 historical. At the present day the bean is cultivated in 

 Europe, Egypt, China, Java, Japan, America, the Sudan, 

 Madagascar, &c. According to de CandoUe, its introduction 

 into India is onlv recent. 



In Mauritius the bean with the widest distribution is the 

 one commonly known as bocla, or in India bachi. It is 

 identical with the common bean, ]'icia Fabii or Faba 

 vulgaris. 



No mention is made of it by Cossigny, and we mav 

 talve it that it has been brought to Mauritius from India 

 by the numerous Indian immigrants. 



Beans are annual plants from 40 to 80 cm. high or some- 

 times even higher, the stems are simple and very rarely 

 branched at the summit. The flowers thev bear are axillary 

 racemes, shortly pedunculate. The pods are sessile, bulky, 

 swollen, pubescent, green, and lined internally with a kind 

 of felted down. The shape and size of these pods varv 

 greatly in the different races. In the common bean they are 

 fairly short, almost cylindrical and erect; in other varieties 

 they are sometimes curved, short, and broad, and some- 

 times considerably elongated, and may reach a length of 35 

 to 40 cm. 



Similarly with the size of the seeds in the different 

 varieties. They are generally flattened on the surface, 

 greenish white, green, or violet in colour. According to 

 certain writers they retain their germinative capacitv for 

 exceedingly long periods, averaging from six years, with a 

 maximum of ten years. 



Distinction is made between two series of varieties : horse 

 beans (Faba xnilgaris) and beans properly so-called. The 

 former are usually cultivated for live stock, their flavour 

 being considerably less agreeable than that of the vegetable 



