IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 



233 



to other opinions it is a native of Mexico. A twining showy peren- 

 nial, as useful as the ordinary French bean. Its seeds usually larger 

 than those of the latter plant, purple with black dots, but some- 

 times also pure blue and again quite white. The flowers occur 

 sometimes white. The root contains a narcotic poison. 



Phaseolus lunatus, Linne". 



Considered as a native of tropical America, but also recorded as 

 wild from many parts of , tropical Africa and Asia. Biennial 

 according to Roxburgh. Much cultivated in the warm zone for its 

 edible beans, which are purple or white. A yellow-flowered variety 

 or closely-allied species is known as the Madagascar Bean and 

 proved hardy and productive in Victoria. P. perennis, Walt., from 

 the United States of North America, is another allied plant. 



Phaseolus Max, Linne. (P. Ifungo, Linne j P. radicatus, Linne.) 

 The Green Gram. South Asia and tropical Australia. An annual 

 very hairy plant, not much climbing. Frequently reared in India, 

 when rice fails or where that crop cannot be produced. According 

 to Sir Walter Elliot one of the most esteemed of Indian pulses. 

 " It fetches the highest price and is more than any other in request 

 among the richer classes, entering largely into delicate dishes and 

 cakes." Cultivated up to 6,000 feet (Forbes Watson). Col. Sykes 

 counted sixty-two pods on one plant with from seven to fourteen 

 seeds in each. The seeds are but small, and the herb is not available 

 for fodder. This plant requires no irrigation, and ripens in two and 

 a-half to three months. The grain tastes well and is esteemed 

 wholesome. The harvest is about thirty-fold. 



Phaseolus vulgaris, Linne\* 



The ordinary Kidney Bean, or French Bean, or Haricot. India, 

 from whence it came to Europe through the conquests of Alex- 

 ander the Great ; but apparently it is also wild in North- 

 Western Australia. Though this common and important culi- 

 nary annual is so well known, it has been deemed desirable to 

 refer to it here with a view of reminding that the Kidney 

 Bean is nearly twice as nutritive as wheat. The meal from 

 beans might also find far-augmented use. As constituents of 

 the beans should be mentioned a large proportion of starch 

 (nearly half), then much legumin, also some phaseolin (which, 

 like amogdalin, can be converted into an essential oil) and 

 inosit-sugar. Lentils contain more legumin but less starch, while 

 Peas and Beans are in respect to the proportion of these two 

 nourishing substances almost alike. The Kidney Bean can still be 

 cultivated in cold latitudes and at Sub-Alpine elevations, if the 

 uninterrupted summer warmth lasts for four months ; otherwise it 

 is more tender than the Pea. The soil should for field culture be 



