284 
CALYCI FLORAE. 
HAB. Cultivated. 
FL. Throughout the year. 
Erect, a foot or more in height : branches angulose, hispid. 
Leaflets deltoideo-ovate, acuminate, hirsute with some of the 
hairs minutely uncinate : petiole subtetragonal, channelled 
above. Stipules deltoideo-ovate, veined, thickened and re- 
flected at the base : stipels lanceolate. Raceme subterminal, 
an inch and a half in length, about 6-flowered, rachis anguloso- 
striated, pubescent, thick at the base, but diminishing as the 
pedicels are given off: pedicels geminate, with the lowest pair 
in the axilla formed by the leaf and peduncle, bracteated. 
Flowers of a pale rose or lilac. Calyx bibracteolated, exter- 
nally puberulous with minute uncinate hairs : upper lip emar- 
ginate or acute : under 8-fid, with the divisions acute, and the 
middle one the longest. Standard reflected, emarginate ; wings 
elliptic, nearly as large as the standard ; keel and stamens as in 
the generic character. Ovary linear, compressed, appresso-pu- 
bescent : style glabrous, but pubescent towards the stigma. 
Legumes pendulous. 
According to De Candolle, this is to be considered as merely 
a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris. 
There are several varieties of this species cultivated in 
Jamaica: 1. One- coloured ; with seeds black, yellow, red, &c. 
The black-betty bean belongs to this variety. 2. The streaked ; 
seeds marked with broad linear curved spots. 3. The variegated ; 
seeds marked with rubiginose, leaden, &c., more or less round- 
ed spots. 4. The saponaceous ; with the back of the seeds 
white, but the sides and concavity marbled with spots, so as to 
resemble a common soap-ball. 
The dwarf Kidney-bean is a native of the East Indies, but is 
now extensively cultivated in this Island. It is a favourite 
dish among the French and Spanish Catholics, the formulary 
of whose Church enjoins a number of meagre days, on which 
the people are expected to subsist, in a great measure, on pulse, 
with the addition of vegetable oil. 
The young pods are served up as a vegetable, under the 
name of French-beans. The Beans when full, but not dry, are 
used in stews or soup. The leaves are boiled, and employed 
among the Nubians as an esculent. 
The best crops of this Bean are procured from seed sown 
during Spring and Autumn. A scanty return is obtained 
during the cool or very hot period of the year. It is very 
fruitful, and comes into bearing in the course of 5 or 6 weeks. 
10. Phaseolus lathyroides. Crimson-Jlowered Pita- 
seolus. 
Stem erect glabrous, leaflets oblong acuminate, ra- 
