Phaseolus vulgaris

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant. Its botanical classification, along with other Phaseolus species, is as a member of the legume family, Fabaceae. It forms a green-leaved vine which produces beans inside of pods.
The common bean has a long history of cultivation. All wild members of the species have a climbing habit, but many cultivars are classified either as bush beans or climbing beans, depending on their style of growth. In 2022, 28 million tonnes of dry common beans were produced worldwide, led by India with 23% of the total.
Raw dry beans contain the toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin, which can be deactivated by boiling the beans for 30 minutes. In addition to the beans, the unripe green pods are used for food. The leaf is occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder.

Description

Bush varieties form erect bushes tall, while pole, or running, varieties form vines long. All wild members of the species have a climbing habit. All varieties bear alternate, green or purple leaves, which are divided into three oval, smooth-edged leaflets, each long and wide.
The white, pink, or purple flowers are about a centimetre long and have 10 stamens each. The flowers are self-pollinating, which facilitates the selection of stable cultivars. The flowers give way to pods long and 1–1.5 cm wide. These may be green, yellow, black, or purple, each containing 4–8 beans. Some varieties develop a string along the pod; these are generally cultivated for dry beans, as green stringy beans are not commercially desirable. The beans are smooth, plump, kidney-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, range widely in color and are often mottled in two or more colors. The beans maintain their germination capacity for up to five years.
Like most species from Phaseolus, the genome of P. vulgaris has 11 chromosomal pairs. Its genome is one of the smallest in the legume family at 625 Mbp per haploid genome.
Raw or undercooked beans contain a toxic protein called phytohaemagglutinin.

Taxonomy

The common bean, like all species of Phaseolus is a member of the legume family Fabaceae.
In Species Plantarum in 1753, Carl Linnaeus classified the beans known by him into genus Phaseolus and genus Dolichos, naming 11 species of Phaseolus, including 6 cultivated species and 5 "wild" species.
The beans cultivated in Europe prior to the Columbian Exchange were of Asian origin and are unrelated to New World Phaseolus species. The Eurasian species were transferred to other genera including Vigna, Vicia and Lablab, so members of the Phaseolus genus are now all from the Americas.

Etymology

used the word φάσηλος to refer to the beans of Asian origins that were cultivated in Europe at the time. The Romans used both the Latinized phaseolus and their own faba to refer to different pre-Columbian species of beans, presumably using the word faseolus for smaller seeds like those belonging to the genus Vigna such as black-eyed peas and the word faba for larger seeds, such as the fava beans. This latter word, faba, was related to the Proto-Germanic bauno, from which the Old English word bean is derived and has the meaning of "bean, pea, legume". When Phaseolus vulgaris arrived in Europe in the 16th century, this species was yet another seed in a pod, thus there were already words in the European languages describing it.
In the Americas, P. vulgaris is also known as ayacotl in Nahuatl, búul in Mayan and purutu in Quechua. In Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, the Spanish name poroto is used, being derived from its corresponding Quechua word. Additional names include the Castilian Spanish frijol, the Portuguese feijão, and the Catalan fesol.

Distribution

Wild P. vulgaris is native to the Americas. It was domesticated separately in Mesoamerica and in the southern Andes region some ago, giving the domesticated bean two gene pools.
Beans, squash, and maize are the three Mesoamerican crops that constitute the "Three Sisters", central to indigenous American agriculture.
The common bean arrived in Europe as part of the Columbian exchange. It is now grown on every continent except Antarctica.

Ecology

Like most members of Fabaceae, common beans acquire the nitrogen they require through an association with rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Cultivation

Good commercial yield in favorable environments under irrigation is fresh and dry seed.

Cultivars and varieties

Archeologists found large-seeded varieties of the domesticated bean in the highlands of Peru, dating to 2300 BC, and spreading to the coastal regions by around 500 BC. Small-seeded varieties were found in sites in Mexico, dating to 300 BC, which then spread north and east of the Mississippi River by 1000 AD.
Many well-known bean cultivars and varieties belong to this species, and the list below is in no way exhaustive. Both bush and running cultivars/varieties exist. The colors and shapes of pods and seeds vary over a wide range.

Name	Image	Description
Anasazi		Anasazi beans are a dappled red and white bean first cultivated by Ancestral Puebloan people around 130 AD in what is now the Four Corners region of the United States. Anasazi Bean is often confused with Jacob's Cattle variety, but Anasazi has splashes of color, whereas Jacob's Cattle has splashes and small spots. Anasazi beans were adopted by commercial growers beginning in the 1980s and marketed under the name "Anasazi"; traditionally they were known by the Spanish names frijol conejo, vaquita, or pájaro carpintero.
Appaloosa		Front portion of the bean is ivory colored; the other end is speckled with reddish-purple and mocha. The bean is named after the Appaloosa ponies of the Nez Perce tribe. The seed was cultivated near the Palouse River in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
Black turtle		The black turtle bean has small, shiny black seeds. It is especially popular in Latin American cuisine.
Bolita bean		Bolita beans are a traditional variety utilized in New Mexican cuisine by New Mexican Hispanos from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. They can range from whitish-tan to beige and even pinkish-purple in color.
Calypso		Calypso beans, also called panda beans or yin–yang beans, are half black and half white, with one or two black dots in the white area. When young, the pods can be harvested as green beans. But when full-grown, they are used as a bean for drying.
Cranberry		The cranberry beans originated in Colombia as the cargamanto bean. Borlotti or Roman beans are a variety of cranberry beans bred in Italy to have a thicker skin. They are much used in Mediterranean cuisine. A widespread cultivar of European borlotti is 'Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco'.
Dragon tongue		The dragon tongue bean is a type of cranberry bean. It is a flavorful, juicy bean whose seeds are encased in a buffed, colorful pod with mottled burgundy patterns throughout the shell's surface. The shelled beans are pale pistachio green in color, their size, petite, and their shape, ovate and slightly curved.
Flageolet		Flageolet beans are picked before full maturity and dried in the shade to retain a green color and a distinct taste. The seeds are small, light green, and kidney-shaped. If shelled and cooked when fresh but semi-dry, the texture is firm yet creamy. They are often eaten in France, where they traditionally accompany lamb.
Great northern beans		Great northern beans are a large, flat, kidney-shaped white bean. They have a mild, nutty flavor. They are popular in North America and often added to soups and casseroles.
Kidney		Kidney beans, also known as red beans, are named for their visual resemblance in shape and color to kidneys. They are sometimes used in chili con carne and are an integral part of the cuisine in northern regions of India. They are also used in New Orleans and much of southern Louisiana for the Monday Creole dish of red beans and rice as well as the Caribbean habichuelas guisadas and Central American gallo pinto.
Jacob's cattle		Similar to Anasazi in appearance, with the exception of having also dots. Legend says the Passamaquoddy indigenous people of Maine gave these beans as a gift to Joseph Clark, the first Caucasian child born in Lubec, Maine in the 1600s. Also known as Trout.
Mocha with cherry		"Mocha with cherry" is a polebean. This variety is said to come from the Rodope area in Bulgaria, and to be related to "Papa de Rola" and "Dove's Breast".
North Holland brown		This bean is an old Dutch Heirloom bush variety primarily used for dried beans.
Pea, painted pony		A type of P. vulgaris called pea bean has been recorded in Britain since the 16th century. In the US, the name "pea bean" is also used to describe small white beans and the same name is used for Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis, also called yard-long bean and cowpea. The seeds of the British pea bean are bicolored red-brown and white. The plants are typical climbing beans. The beans are either eaten in the pod-like French beans or may be harvested when mature and eaten as other dried beans.
Peruano		Also known as mayocoba, canary, canario, Peruvian, Mexican yellow bean. A light green to jaundice yellow kidney-shaped bean that is preferred in certain regions of Mexico for making frijoles refritos, and in Peru for making tacu tacu, a pan-fried cake of leftover beans and rice. Often described as having a "buttery" and "creamy" texture.
Pink		Pink beans are small, pale pink, oval-shaped beans also known by the Spanish name habichuelas rosadas. The Santa Maria pinquito, is commercially grown on the mesas above Santa Maria, California, and is a necessary ingredient in Santa Maria-style barbecue.
Pinto		Pinto beans are named for their mottled skin. They are the most common bean in the United States and northwestern Mexico, and are most often eaten whole in broth or mashed and refried. Either whole or mashed, they are a common filling for burritos. The young pods may also be harvested and cooked as green pinto beans.
Polish eagle beans		Also called by the Independence bean by the Polish people because the brown pattern on the inner side of the bean resembles an Eagle - the Polish emblem. This bean variety was cultivated in the XIX century as an act of patriotism by the Polish people.
Rattlesnake		A medium-sized, oblong bean with light brown seeds striped with brown markings. Named for the snake-like manner in which their pods coil around the vine.
Small red beans		Small red beans, also known as "Mexican red beans", "Central American red beans", and "New Orleans red beans". Popular in central america. Often confused with kidney beans their cousin for a similar color.
Sulphur		Also known as "China yellow bean", a thin-skinned, nearly round Maine heirloom bean that has a tawny yellow color but cooks white and has a distinctly unique flavor. This is a choice variety for use in the traditional Bean Hole style.
Tiger's eye		A bush variety, thought to have originated in Chile or Argentina.
White		Navy beans or haricot beans are particularly popular in the United Kingdom and the United States. White beans are the most abundant plant-based source of phosphatidylserine known.
Yellow		'Sinaloa Azufrado', 'Mayocoba', and 'Peruano' are yellow beans. Peruano beans are small, oval, yellow beans about 1/2 in long with a thin skin. They have a creamy texture when cooked. Despite the name, they are native to Mexico. Yellow beans are uncommon in the United States due to a controversial patent issued in 1999 to John Proctor, who selected and named a strain of yellow beans from seeds he brought back from Mexico. U.S. Patent No. 5,894,079 granted POD-NERS, LLC., exclusive right to import and sell yellow beans in the United States from 1999 through 2008 when the patent was rejected after reexamination.
Yellow eye		Also known as Maine yellow eye, this is the most popular baking bean in Maine, which comes in several strains, including the 'Steuben', one of the oldest heirloom beans. It has a wide appeal for its clean, mild taste and is considered the baked bean of choice for church and grange suppers.