Fabaceae FAMILY

Phaseolus vulgaris

Edibility

5/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

Large quantities of the raw mature seed are poisonous[ 10 Title Poisonous Plants and Animals. Publication Author Altmann. H. Publisher Chatto and Windus Year 1980 ISBN 0-7011-2526-8 Description A small book, reasonable but not very detailed. , 65 Title A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Publication Author Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. Publisher Wolfe Year 1984 ISBN 0723408394 Description Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far. ]. Children eating just a few seeds have shown mild forms of poisoning with nausea and diarrhoea, though complete recovery took place in 12 - 24 hours[ 269 Title Handbook of Energy Crops Publication Author Duke. J. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html Publisher - Year 1983 ISBN - Description Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants. ]. The toxins play a role in protecting the plant from insect predation[ 76 Title Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. Publication Author Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Publisher HMSO Year 1984 ISBN 0112425291 Description Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock. ].

Botanical Description

Phaseolus vulgaris is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant (though often annual in the wild and nearly always annual in cultivation), growing from a fibrous rootstock. The stem is strongly twining, 1 - 6 metres long, usually annual but sometimes surviving for two years in tropical climates. Non-climbing dwarf varieties have been developed in cultivation[ 1555 Title Taxonomy, Distribution, and Ecology of the Genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Publication SIda, Botanical Mlscellany, No 23 Author Freytag G.F. & Debouck D.G. Website http://www.brit.org/sida Publisher Botanical Researeh Institute of Texas Year 2002 ISBN 1-889878-11-1 Description An excellent, detailed study of the genus Phaseolus, it has been made available on-line as an open access document. ]. The plant is commonly cultivated for its edible mature seeds and immature seedpods[ 300 Title Vegetables in the Tropics Publication Author Tindall. H. D. Publisher MacMillan, Oxford. Year 1983 ISBN 0-333-24268-8 Description An excellent, in-depth look at the main vegetable crops that can be grown in the Tropics, plus many less well-known plants. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate; tropical

Native RangeThe original habitat is obscure, but the plant has been found in a possibly wild form from Argentina through western S. America, C. America to Mexico

HabitatUsually in drier localities of desert to thorny shrub, hillsides or steep slopes ín open pine-oak forests, growing in and over shrubs and brush.often at edges of thickets, trails, and over stone walls; at elevations from 800 - 2,000 metres[ 1555 Title Taxonomy, Distribution, and Ecology of the Genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Publication SIda, Botanical Mlscellany, No 23 Author Freytag G.F. & Debouck D.G. Website http://www.brit.org/sida Publisher Botanical Researeh Institute of Texas Year 2002 ISBN 1-889878-11-1 Description An excellent, detailed study of the genus Phaseolus, it has been made available on-line as an open access document. ].