14 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



in the central valley of California and in parts of southern 

 California and is, according to Henry (California 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 294. 312. 1918), "The most 

 drought resistant bean grown in California." 



8. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Sp. PI. 723. 1753. 

 Kidney or Common Bean. — P. esculentus Salisb. 

 Prod. 335. 1796. P. lilac Zucc. in Roem. Collect. 

 148. 1809. P. nigerritnus Juss. ex Zucc. 1. c. P. 

 compressus DC. Prod. 2. 392. 1825. P. oblongus 

 Savi Nouvo Giorn. Pisa 10:37. 1825. P. romanus 

 Savi /. c. 37. P. saponaceus Savi 1. c. 39. P. tumidus 

 Savi /. c. 39. P. haematocarpus Savi /. c. 40. P. 

 sphaericus Savi /. c. 40. P. gonosperumus Savi 

 /. c. 41. P. mexicanus Mart. Horf. i?e£. Monac. 

 185. 1829. P. dimidiatUS Haberle ex Schuebl. 8b 

 Mart. Fl. Wuert. 472. 1834. P. nigricans Haberle 

 1. c. P. ionocarpus Fingerh. Linnaea 10:8. 1836. 

 P. amoentts Fingerh. /. c. P. melanospennus 

 Fingerh. /. c. 8. P. zebra Fingerh. /. c. 9. P. tri- 

 angulus Fingerh. 1. c. 12. P. praecox Fingerh. /. c. 

 17. P. subglobosus Fingerh. 1. c. 20. P. oiali- 

 spermus Fingerh. /. c. 21. P. lupinoides Fingerh. 

 /. c. 24. P. vexillatus Blanco F/. F^'p 574. 1837. 

 P. pictus Cav. ex Steud. 7Vo/n. ed. 2. 2:317. 1841. 

 P. angulosus Schuebl. 8b Mart, in Mart. Gartenb. 47. 

 1860. P. asparagoides Schur. Enum. PI. Transs. 

 177. 1866. P. cruentus Hort. ex Schur. /. c. P. 

 sinensis Hort. ex Schur. /. c. 



Erect, bushy to long twining, annual, 0.3 to 5 m tall: stems 

 furrowed, more or less pubescent or puberulent: leaves usually 

 somewhat pubescent on both sides, paler beneath; stipules small, 

 deltoid; leaflets rhombic to deltoid ovate, acute to acuminate, 

 rounded, truncate, or sub-cordate at base; peduncles usually axillary, 

 shorter than the petioles; flowers 1-8, white, yellowish, or purplish; 

 bracteoles ovate, about as long as the calyx; calyx bilabiate, the 

 teeth of the upper lobe obsolete or very short, the lower lobes deltoid 

 ovate; standard sharply reflexed, marginate, with lateral auricles; 

 wings obovate longer than standard; keel strongly coiled; upper 

 stamen with an appendage at the base; pods slender, usually some- 

 what falcate, the tip sharp and straight and more often recurved; 

 seeds variable but generally terete or bluntly and broadly elliptical 

 in cross-section, often reniform. Native to tropical America, 

 a forma nanus Van Es. n. comb. — Phaseolus nanus Juslen. 

 in L. Cent. PI. 1:23. 1.755. Phaseolus vulgaris var. 

 nanus Aschers, Fl. Prov. Brand. 170. 1864. Phaseolus 

 vulgaris var. nonscandens Bailey, Gent. Herb. 1:122. 1923. 

 Stem often ending in an inflorescence; plants erect, bushy, 

 usually not climbing and not twining. As crosses of pole beans 

 are sometimes dwarf and vice versa one can scarcely give dwarf 

 beans a status higher than that of forma. 



The name Phaseolus vulgaris humilis Alefeld, Landw. 

 Fl. 10. 1866 has been used for this form, but Alefeld used the 

 name in a very restricted sense, applying it to one of the 124 

 " Abarten " which he lists and which are merely Latin names for 

 horticultural varieties, nor distinct botanical forms. Alefeld 

 recognized the status of the form nanus and gives it in the work 

 cited as a new combination. This was an error, however, as the 

 combination had been made two years earlier by Ascherson. 



This form includes numerous horticultural varieties all of 

 which are known as " bush beans " in contrast to the varieties 

 usually known as " pole beans." 



Alefeld recognized another form medium , but this seems 

 to be merely a group of the lower forms of pole beans. They have 

 no true characters separating them from the pole beans into which 

 they merge. 



Phaseolus vulgaris, as now known, is a very 



variable species including about 500 named horticultural 

 varieties. Whether or not this great assemblage of 

 forms arose from a single variable wild species or from 

 a group of closely allied species is a question not likely 

 to be solved satisfactorily from available data. How- 

 ever, the behavior of Phaseolus acutifolius may be 

 considered suggestive. Here, a single wild species 

 varying somewhat in leaf shape shows about 100 seed 

 forms in cultivation, many of which breed true to type. 

 This fact might lead one to prefer the idea of the origin 

 of our cultivated forms from a single species not now 

 certainly known in the wild state. 



While these forms do not seem to admit of segrega- 

 tion into strict botanical catagories, Savi iMem. Phas. 

 .i:l-18. 1826), Martens iDie Gartenbohnen 1860), 

 and Alefeld t Landwirtschaftliche Flora 1866) divide 

 the kidney beans into a number of what Alefeld calls 

 " Varietaten Gruppen " and " Abarten." 



Because of the use that has been made of Martens' 

 classification which was based largely on seed form, it is 

 worth noting here the seven species he recognized with 

 the number of divisions and forms listed. His ultimate 

 divisions, based largely on seed color, correspond nearly 

 to present day horticultural varieties and a fairly well- 

 known variety that, in shape of seed and pod, is repre- 

 sentative of each of his species, is therefore added. 

 I. P. vulgaris Savi 5 div., 34 forms) Turtle Soup. 

 II. P. compressus Martens i3 div., 18 forms' Dutch 

 Case Knife. 



III. P. gonospernnus Savi (2 div., 9 forms Cut Short. 



IV. P. carinatus Martens )2 forms I White Lyonnaise. 

 V. P. oblongus Savi (3 div., 22 forms' Dwarf 



Mohawk. 

 VI. P. ellipticus Martens (2 div., 17 forms) Early 



Yellow Six Weeks. 

 VII. P. sphaericus Martens (2 div., 18 forms) Indian 

 Chief. 



The stem of the kidney bean is strictly annual and 

 the difference in length of node between various sorts 

 of bush beans and of pole beans considered separately is 

 interpreted as being due to two or more genetic factors 

 which, according to Emerson, are non-dominant and 

 independently inherited. However, the distinction 

 between the true pole and the true bush types is con- 

 sidered as being due to a single pair of characters; the 

 indeterminate growth habit of the pole beans being 

 dominant over the determinate habit of the bush beans. 

 The inheritance of growth factors has been treated at 

 length by Emerson [Nebraska Agr. Exp. Sta. Research 

 Bulletin 7. 1916) and Norton {Am. Nat. 49:547-561. 

 1915). Norton finds true dwarf types with indetermi- 

 nate inflorescence and also with very short internodes. 



The bean plant develops a strong tap root usually 

 penetrating the soil for 2 feet or more. There are 

 numerous laterals with a spread of 4 or 5 feet and 

 filamentous roots penetrating the soil to a depth of 

 5 feet or more under favorable circumstances. How- 

 ever, it seems that the great bulk of feeding roots are 

 in the top foot of soil and spread 2 to 2 J _> feet on every 

 side of the stem. The behavior of Wardwell's Kidney 

 Wax bean has been investigated thoroughly by Weaver 



