KIDNEY BEAN, OR FRENCH BEAN 33 



usually channelled or angular, rough to the touch, always twining 

 in the direction of from right to left (but there are several dwarf 

 varieties, with stiff stems, which do not require any support). 

 Leaves large, composed of three triangular leaflets, which have the 

 angles at the base rounded, are rough on the surface, and of various 

 shapes and sizes. The flowers are produced in the axils of the 

 leaves, in clusters containing from two to eight flowers each. They 

 resemble other papilionaceous flowers, but are rather irregular in 

 shape, the petals being often twisted in an unsymmetrical manner, 

 and the keel especially being generally reduced to two small blades 

 which are more or less convex and non-adherent to each other. 

 Hence it results that the pistil is not so completely covered as it is 

 in most other papilionaceous flowers, and consequently spontaneous 

 crossing very frequently occurs amongst the varieties of this plant. 

 The pods and seeds of the different kinds vary much in shape, 

 colour, size, and substance. 



We shall describe each variety separately, merely observing 

 here that the difference in the texture of the pods has led to the 

 division of the plants into two classes, viz. the Tough-podded, the 

 pods of which become hard and leathery when ripe, and the Edible- 

 podded, the pods of which never become stringy, even when dried. 

 The germinating power of the seeds continues for three years. 



The Kidney Bean does not appear to have been known to the 

 ancients ; for, although Columella and Virgil mention a plant 

 under the name of Phaseolus or Phaselus, this could not have been 

 our Kidney Bean, which, even in Italy, does not accommodate 

 itself to being sown in autumn, like the Phaseolus of these authors. 

 It is certain that the Kidney Bean is a native of a warm climate, 

 and in the absence of positive documentary proofs of its original 

 habitat and the time of its introduction into cultivation, there 

 are good grounds for assenting to the opinion of Monsieur Alph. 

 de Candolle, that it was originally a native of South America, 

 and was introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century. The 

 old French writers on kitchen-garden subjects do not mention it 

 before that period, and give it but scant notice in comparison with 

 that which they bestow on Peas and Garden Beans. Since their 

 time, however, and chiefly owing to the power which the plant 

 possesses of producing numerous varieties, its culture has acquired 

 a considerable amount of importance. In France, every year, 

 many millions of kilogrammes of the seeds are harvested (the 

 kilogramme is equal to 2\ Ib. avoirdupois) ; and, -besides this, 

 considerable quantities are imported, and form a large part of 

 the national food. They contain more azote or nitrogen than 

 almost any other vegetable, and their chemical composition in 

 some degree approaches that of the flesh of animals. 



CULTURE. The Kidney Bean is very sensitive of cold, and 



