225 



Phaseolus adenanthus, E. Met/.-, Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 192. 



III. — Wallich, PL Asiatic Rar. i. t. 63 (P. rostratus) ; Wight, Ic. 

 PI. Ind. Or. i. t. 34 (P. rostratus). 



Brass ; Katagum. Tropical Africa generally, and cosmopolitan in 

 the Tropics. 



The tuberous roots are eaten by the Hindoos ; the whole plant is 

 used in gonorrhoea, also in decoction of rice-water in diabetes, &c. 

 The root is scraped, and together with sandal-wood, fresh butter and 

 sugar is used as a liniment for sore eyes (Moloney, For. W. Afr. 

 p. 320, from Useful PI. India, Drury). 



Found as a twiner by streams in Katagum (Dalziel, Herb. Kew), 

 on the sea-shore at Brass (Barter, I.e.), and on the banks of the 

 Bonny River (Mann, I.e.). 



Phaseolus lunatus, Linn. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 192. 



III.— Jacq. Hort, Bot, Vindob, 1. 100 (P. bipunctatus) ; Wight, Ic. PI. 

 Ind. or. iii. t. 755 ; Ralph, Ic. Carp, t, 31, f. 8 ; Agric. Gaz. N. S. Wales, 

 iii. 1892, t. 42 ; Engl. Pilan. Ost. Afr. t. 24, ff. H— J. (pod and seed) ; 

 Queensland Agric. Journ. iii. 1898, p. 259 (Var inamoenus) ; xi. p. 321 ; 

 Irish, 12th Rep. Missouri, Bot, Gdn. 1901, t. 38 (Seeds of " Carolina," 

 "Willow Leaf," " Black Lima," "Jackson," "Large White," "Ford," 

 " Burpee," " Speckled," " Dreer " and " Kumerle ") ; Vilmorin Andrieux, 

 PI. Potageres, p. 340 ; Tracy, U.S. Dept. Agric. Bureau of PL Industry, 

 Bull. No. 109, 1907, tt. 21, 22 (Bush and Pole var. of Lima bean) ; Chev- 

 alier, Miss. Chari Lac Tchad (1902-04) L'Afr. Cent. Franc. 1908, f . 110. 



Vernac. names. — Akpakapakera (Onitsha, Johnson, Young) ; Owega 

 Fufu (Old Calabar) ; Awuje (S. Nigeria) ; Pois d'Achery (Mauritius, 

 Nash, Henckell die Buisson & Co.) ; Feijao espadinho (Angola, 



Welwitsch); Kajang Koakara (Java, Mus. Kew). Lima, Burma, 



Rangoon, Java or Paigya Beans ; small Mauritius Bean ; Sugar Bean ; 

 Duffin Bean ; Butter Beans. 



Common in the Tropics : generally cultivated, 



The young pods may be cooked like French Beans, and the seeds, 

 more especially the white ones, may be eaten like haricot beans. The 

 plant is an important fodder, and is very suitable for green 

 manuring. 



The ripe seeds contain prussic acid, the percentage of which is 

 greater in the coloured seeds than in the white, so much so that the 

 white kinds only are considered safe for food. According to 

 Guignard the percentage of hydrocyanic acid in Java beans ranges from 

 •06 to -32 and of red and white Burma beans "002. The importation of 

 Java beans to Paris is prohibited, but Burma beans are allowed in 

 with a certificate of origin, and provided that analysis shows them to 

 yield not more than -02 per cent, of hydrocyanic acid (Pharm. Journ. 

 [4] xxiii. p. 489). 



Under cultivation there are many varieties which vary, especially 

 in the colour, size and shape of the seeds : they may be white, black, 

 brown, reddish and mottled. The seeds all agree, however, in the 

 lunate, flat or slightly rounded form, with tine lines radiating from 

 the hilum to the outer edge, giving an impression of the radii of a 

 circle ; these characters distinguish the seeds from those of the 

 haricot (P. vulgaris), which is never flat, and the markings on the 

 seed do not radiate from the hilum, but show a tendency to mottling. 

 The small white seeds of Phaseolus lunatus are often sold as small 

 haricots. 



16583 D 



