PAP I L I CNAC EAE 



very frequently freezing back to the ground during the winter. It 

 has possibilities as an ornanental but has very little value for 

 erosion control and none as forage. The large, red, very hard 

 seeds are poisonous. 



Fhaseolus spp. Beans. There are several true beans in the 

 southwest. Sone of then arc perennials and arc among the most pro- 

 mising of our legumes • Like most other plants they have definite 

 requirements as to site and altitude and probably soil, 



*P. metc alf ii , Metcalf Bean, is a vine with a very large woody 

 root and numerous prostrate stems. It has trifoliate loaves of 

 rather largo size which makes the plant quite conspicuous, Many 

 years ago this plant was successfully cultivated by Dr. Metcalf at 

 Silver City, Nov; Mexico. Ho^found it to bo very satisfactory as a 

 stock food but strange to say this load was never consistently fol- 

 lowed up and nothing worthy of note has been done with the plant. 

 It produces rather large pods and large beans, which arc palatable 

 to stock. Thj s plant is found growing on rather loose soil on steep 

 slopes and recently made road grades. It frequently forms almost a 

 solid ground cover and while the stems do not root, the prostrate 

 vines prevent erosion quite effectively. It is not at all improb- 

 able that this plant with proper selection and possibly proper breed- 

 ing could be made not only useful as an erosion control end forage 

 plant, but even for the production of very palatable beans for 

 huma n c on. sump t io n • 



P. r hit on sis and P, rotusus for our discussion here can well 

 be considered "the same as P. metcalf ii. They are very similar in 

 growth habits and soil requirements, "While these three species seem 

 to be limited in their natural range to central and southern ITew 

 Mexico and Arizona, it is not at all improbable that they can be 

 used far beyond their natural range. These beans are not suitable 

 for use in alkali land or in extremely dry situations, 



*P. dilatatus is a very promising vino bean with large woody 

 root found in our range only in southern How Ilcxico and southern 

 Arizona. It is a much smaller plant than the Metcalf bean but 

 forms a good ground c over and is effective in controlling erosion 

 on dry stoop slopes. It is usually found, however, on partially 

 wooded or north-facing slopes. It can be di stinguisked from the 

 Metcalf bean by its lobed and smaller leaflets contrasted with the 

 entire and large leaflets of the Metcalf. 



*P, macropo id-cs closely resembles P. dilata_tuc. It has a 



large woody root and grows in comparable sites. In the southwest 

 it seems to bo more abundant but is confined to our extreme south- 

 western ranges. Like the last, it forms excellent ground cover on 

 rp.thor dry rocky slopes. 



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