THE BEAN 155 



the varieties known as " scarlet runner beans,'' that are raised both 

 for food and for ornament. Certain varieties of P. acutifolius, a species 

 native to the southwestern United States, have long been grown by 

 the Indians for food and are now coming into general cultivation 

 under the name of " tepary bean." P. radiatus, the " Adzuki bean," 

 is much used in Japan and has been introduced into the United States. 



177. Relatives of the Beans. — The beans belong to the pulse 

 family, which includes more than 12,000 species. With one exception 

 (the composite family) this is the largest family of living seed plants. 

 Among the members of the family are hundreds of species that are 

 useful to man. The seeds and fruits of many are used as food ; the 

 roots of some are eaten, and some supply substitutes for coffee and tea. 

 Some are used as food for domestic animals. The wood of some trees 

 belonging to this family is used in building, for cabinet work, or as a 

 source of dyes. The fibers of some are used in making ropes, in weav- 

 ing, and in paper-making. Others are sources of gums and balsams, 

 starch, oUs, and perfumes. A considerable number are drug-plants, 

 and many are cultivated for ornament. Vicia faba, the " broad 

 bean," is grown largely in Europe ; the seeds are eaten, like those of 

 the kidney beans, and the plant serves as food for horses and sheep. 

 This is the plant to which the name bean was originally given. Other 

 well-known members of the family are the pea, the lentil, lupines, 

 vetches (which include Vicia faba), the asparagus bean, the cow-pea, 

 the soy-bean, the hyacinth bean, the peanut (whose flower-stalks turn 

 downward and grow after pollination, so that the fruits are pushed 

 into the soil and ripen there) ; the clovers, alfalfa, the sensitive plant, 

 the honey locust, the black locust, the sweet-peas, laburnum, wistaria, 

 the tamarind, the acacias, the sunn hemp, and Indigofera (which supplies 

 indigo). The drug known as " senna " consists of the dried leaves of 

 Cassia; licorice is obtained from the roots of Glycyrrhiza. 



178. Historical Note. — Phaseolus vulgaris, P. lunatus, and P. 

 multiflorus (kidney beans, Lima beans, and scarlet runner beans) are 

 natives of the American continent, but they are not now known in the 

 wild condition. AH three (including many varieties of kidney beans) 

 were cultivated by the American Indians before the coming of Colum- 

 bus. Seeds of Lima beans and kidney beans are reported to have been 

 found in old Indian tombs in Peru. Kidney beans seem to have been 

 introduced into Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century ; 

 Lima beans and scarlet runner beans were taken over later. Broad 

 beans have been widely used in Europe for centuries ; they were grown 

 by the ancient Egyptians and by the lake-dwellers of Switzerland, and 

 their origin is unknown. 



