132 History of Garden Vegetables. [ Feb, 
the slow process of natural selection, and the influence of selec- 
tion and diverse cultivations has been but to secure variation 
within the type limits, and such variations are usually of the 
character which may be described as expansion under culture,or 
its opposite; as smoothness and pogramy of form; as enhanced 
quality. 
AsparaGus BEAN. Dolichos sesquipedalis L. 
This bean was described by Linnæus* in 1763, and I find no 
record of an earlier notice. It reached England in 1781.7 Lin- 
nzus gives its habitat as America, and Jacquin received it from 
the West Indies. Martens considers it as a synonyme of Doli- 
chos sinensis L. Loureiro’s description of D. sinensis certainly 
applies well to the asparagus bean, and Loureiro‘ observes that 
he thinks the D. sesquipedalis of Linnzeus the same. He refers to 
Rumphius’s “ Amboina,” 1. 9, c. 22, tab. 134, as representing his 
plant, and this work, published in 1750, antedates the descrip- 
tion of Linnzus. I think this is probably an East Indian plant, 
introduced to the West Indies, but I am unable from my notes 
to present the varieties and the forms which have been included 
under D. chinensis. 
The name of Asparagus bean comes from the use of the green 
pods as a vegetable, served as a string-bean, and a tender aspara- 
gus-like dish it is. The name at Naples of Fagiolo e maccarone 
conveys the same idea. The pods grow very long, oftentimes 
are two feet in length, and hence the name of Yard-long often 
used. 7 
The Asparagus or Yard-long bean is mentioned for American 
gardens in 1828, and probably was introduced earlier. It is 
mentioned for French gardens under the name of Haricot asperge 
in 18292 ere are no varieties known to our seedsmen, but 
Vilmorin offers one, the Doligue de Cuba? 
The names under which it is known are: in France, doligue 
asperge, haricot asperge ; in Germany, Americanische riesen-spar- 
gel Bohne ; in Holland, Judianische boon ; in Italy, fagiuolo spara- 
* Linnaeus, Sp. sie roig. 2 Miller’s Dict., 1807. 
3 Matens. Die Gartenbohnen, 100. 4 Loureiro, FI. Cochinch., 1790, 436. , 
6 Noisette, Man. du Jard., 1829. 
7 Thorburn’s Seed Cat., 1828. 
