1294 



PHASEOLUS 



PHASEOLUS 



1738. Ribbon Grass Phalaris arundinacea, var. variegata. 

 (See page 1293.) 



PHASfiOLTTS (ancient Latin name, somewhat altered, 

 of a bean). Legumindsat. BEAN. Annual or perennial 

 mostly twining herbs, or' some of them woody at the 

 base, with mostly pinnately 3-foliolate stipellate leaves, 

 axillary peduncles bearing clusters of white, yellow, 

 red or purplish papilionaceous flowers, and more or less 

 compressed (flat-sided) several to many-seeded 2-valved 

 pods. Many species have been described, all of warm 

 countries, but there are probably not more than 100 

 kinds that can be clearly separated as species. From 

 its allied genera, Phaseolus is separated by minute 

 characters of calyx, style and keel. In Phaseolus the style 

 is bearded along the inner side, and the stigma is oblique 

 or lateral rather than capitate on the end of the style ; 

 the keel is coiled into a spiral body, including the 10 

 diadelphous stamens (in 9 and 1). 



Since Phaseoli are tropical or warm-country plants, 

 they must not be subjected to frost. Most of them are 

 garden annuals which are given a warm place after all 

 danger of frost is past. One of them, P. Caracalla, is 

 sometimes grown as a greenhouse climber, but in Cali- 

 fornia and other warm parts it thrives in the open and 

 climbs hedges and trees, often smothering them. The 

 culture is set forth under Sean, but the species are 

 contrasted below. See, also, Canavalia, Glycine, 

 Miicuna, Vicia, Vigna. 



aeonitifolius, 5. 

 adenanthus, 2. 

 amoznus, 2. 

 Caracalla, 1. 

 carinatus, 8. 

 cirrhosus, 2. 

 compressus, 8. 

 ellipticus, 8. 

 foecundus, 7. 

 glaber, 6. 



INDEX. 



gonospermus, 8. 

 inamoenus, 1. 

 latisiliquus, 7. 

 Limensis, 7. 

 lunatus, 7. 

 macrocarpus, 7. 

 multiflorus, 3. 

 Mungo, 6. 

 nanus, 8. 



oblongus, 8. 

 puberulus, 7. 

 radiatus, 6. 

 retusus, 4. 

 saccharatus, 1. 

 sphcericus, 8. 

 Truxillensis, 2. 

 vulgaris, 8. 

 Xuarezii, 7. 



light purple to yellowish, very fragrant, the large keel 

 coiled like a snail shell. Tropics, probably of the Old 

 World. B.R. 4:341. V. 2, p. 370. Naturalized in parts 

 of California, where it grows 20 or more feet high, some- 

 times becoming a nuisance. It is an old-fashioned 

 glasshouse plant in cold climates, but is now rarely 

 seen. It is sometimes planted out in summer. 



2. adenanthus, Meyer (P. amcenus, Soland. P. Trux- 

 ilUnsis, HBK. P. cirrhosus, HBK.). Foliage much 

 like that of the last, the Ifts. ovate and somewhat acute: 

 fls. very showy, red (or light blue ?), fragrant, in dense 

 almost capitate clusters: pod 4-6 in. long, usually curved. 

 Tropics ; grown sparingly in southern California. 



AA. Perennial from tuberous roots (but P. multiflorus 

 grown as an annual -ZV.), the fls. either large or 

 small, the Ivs. pubescent or scabrous. 



3. multifldruSjWilld. SCARLET RUNNER BEAN. DUTCH 

 CASE-KNIFE BEAN (a white variety). Fig. 1739. Root 

 thickened and tuberous, perennial in the South but per- 

 ishing in the North: plant tall-twining and slender, 

 minutely pubescent: Ifts. thin, rhombic-ovate and acute, 

 scabrous - pubescent : fls. rather large and showy, in 

 racemes, in the Scarlet Runner type red, in the Dutch 

 Case-Knife white, the keel not distinctly projecting : pods 

 long (3-6 in.), with a curved slender type: beans large 

 and plump, much flattened or nearly cylindric, red and 

 black in the Scarlet Runner, white in the many other 

 forms. South American or Mexican, but now widely 

 spread. The Scarlet Runner form is popular as an orna- 

 mental vine for arbors and to cover windows, sometimes 

 being known as Flowering Bean or Painted Lady. The 

 Dutch Case-Knife is a vegetable-garden plant, grown for 

 its beans. Various forms of the plant are grown for food 

 by the Mexicans, and these sometimes appear in our west- 

 ern country. Melde's Perennial and Irvine'sHybrid beans 

 are apparently white-fld. forms. The color of flower and 

 seed seems always to be associated in this species. A 

 dwarf or "bush" form, probably of P. multiflorus, was 

 introduced a few years ago as Barteldes' Dwarf Lima 

 (see Bull. 87, Cornell Exp. Sta.). Fig. 1740. It is not un- 

 likely that more 



than one species 

 is passing as P. 

 multiflorus , some 

 of the Mexican 

 forms being im- 

 perfectly under- 

 stood. 



A. Perennial tall-twining species, with large, fragrant, 



showy fls., and nearly or quite glabrous Ivs. 

 1. Caracalla, Linn. CARACOL. SNAIL-FLOWER. CORK- 

 SCREW-FLOWER. Leaflets broadly rhombic -ovate, pointed 

 or acuminate: fls. large and fleshy, in axillary racemes, 



1739. Phaseolus 

 multiflorus (X %). 

 White-seeded form. 



1740. Barteldes Bush Lima (X 

 Probably a form of Phaseolus multiflorus. 



