''Phaseolus coccineus'', known as runner bean,
scarlet runner bean,
or multiflora bean,
is a plant in the legume family,
. Another common name is butter bean, which, however, can also refer to the
lima bean
A lima bean (''Phaseolus lunatus''), also commonly known as the butter bean, sieva bean, double bean, Madagascar bean, or wax bean is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans.
Origin and uses
''Phaseolus lunatus'' is found in Meso- and So ...
, a different species.
It is grown both as a food plant and an
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
.
Description
This species originated from the mountains of
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
. It was most likely cultivated in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala around 2000 BC. Most varieties have red
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
s and multicolored
seeds
A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...
(though some have white flowers and white seeds), and they are often grown as
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
s. The vine can grow to 3 m (9 ft) or more in length.
It differs from the
common bean
''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...
(''P. vulgaris'') in several respects: the
cotyledon
A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The num ...
s stay in the ground during
germination
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
, and the plant is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themse ...
with tuberous
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
s (though it is frequently treated as an annual in colder climates).
The knife-shaped pods are normally green; however, there are very rare varieties bred by amateurs that have very unusual purple pods. An example of such a purple-podded runner bean is 'Aeron Purple Star'.
Runner beans have also been called "Oregon lima bean", and in
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
''ayocotl'' or in Spanish ''ayocote''. Runner beans, like all
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
s, contain the
toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...
protein phytohaemagglutinin
Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA, or phytohemagglutinin) is a lectin found in plants, especially certain legumes. PHA actually consists of two closely related proteins, called leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) and PHA-E. These proteins cause blood cells to clump ...
and thus should be cooked well before eating.
Usage
Runner beans were grown as food plants in North America and Europe from the 1600s, and also as ornamentals for their attractive flowers. However, they came to be used primarily as a garden ornamental plant in North America, including for temporary screening. The flowers attract
hummingbirds, bees and other insects. In the UK and other European countries – where the vegetable is a popular choice for kitchen gardens and allotments – the flowers came to be ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans.
The seeds of the plant can be used fresh or as dried beans. The pods are eaten whole while young and not yet fibrous. The starchy roots of this perennial are eaten in
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...
.
The beans are used in many cuisines. It is a popular side vegetable in British cuisine. A variety named 'Judión de la Granja' producing large, white, edible beans is cultivated in
San Ildefonso
San Ildefonso (), La Granja (), or La Granja de San Ildefonso, is a town and municipality in the Province of Segovia, in the Castile and León autonomous region of central Spain.
It is located in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama moun ...
, Spain. It is the basis of a
Segovian regional dish also named ''Judiones de la Granja'', in which the beans are mixed with
pig's ears,
pig's trotters
A pig's trotter, also known as a pettitoe, or sometimes known as a pig's foot, is the culinary term for the foot of a pig. The cuts are used in various dishes around the world, and experienced a resurgence in the late 2000s.
Description
Pigs' t ...
, and
chorizo
Chorizo (, from Spanish ; similar to but distinct from Portuguese ) is a type of pork cured meat originating from the Iberian Peninsula.
In Europe, chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked meat, which may be sliced and eaten without cooking, or ...
, amongst other ingredients.
In Greece, cultivars of the runner bean with white blossom and white beans are known as ''fasolia gigantes'' (φασόλια γίγαντες). They are grown under protective law in the north of Greece within the regions of
Kato Nevrokopi,
Florina
Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'.
The town of Florina is the capital of the ...
and
Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria regional unit, in the geographic region of Macedonia. It is situated on a promontory on the wester ...
.
The beans have an important role in Greek cuisine, appearing in many dishes (such as
Gigandes plaki
Gigantes plaki (Greek γίγαντες πλακί ) or Greek giant baked beans, is a Greek dish of large white beans baked in a tomato sauce. Gigantes plaki may be served as a main dish or as a meze. The beans are traditionally ''fasolia gigantes ...
). In English, they are sometimes colloquially referred to as elephant beans. In Austria the coloured versions are cultivated and served as "Käferbohnen" ("beetle-bean"), a dish made of the dry beans with
pumpkin seed oil
Pumpkin seed oil is a culinary oil, used especially in central Europe.
Culinary uses
This oil is a culinary specialty from what used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now southeastern Austria (Styria), eastern Slovenia (Styria a ...
. It is considered a typical dish of regional Austrian cuisine, but dried runner beans are also consumed to a small extent in Germany.
Greece and northern Africa are the sources of pods of the runner beans sold as "green beans" in European markets during the cold period. The pods can be identified by their big size and the rougher surface.
Cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s include:
[''Phaseolus coccineus''.]
FloriData.
* 'Aeron Purple Star' (not available commercially)
* 'Black Runner'
* 'Butler'
* 'Case Knife'
* 'Hammond's Dwarf'
* 'Painted Lady'
* 'Pickwick Dwarf'
* 'Polestar'
* 'Scarlet Runner'
* 'White Dutch Runner'
''P. coccineus'' subsp. ''darwinianus '' is a cultivated subspecies, commonly referred to as the ''botil'' bean in Mexico.
The related species considered most useful for interbreeding with ''P. coccineus'' to increase its genetic diversity are ''P. dumosus'' and ''
P. vulgaris''.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
coccineus
Crops originating from the Americas
Edible legumes
Perennial vegetables
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus