I just bought some beans called "Canary" beans which appear tohave
originated in Peru. It made be wonder ( not Kentucky Wonder) if "dried"
beans are native to North and South America. Also does anyone know of a good
"bean" book which discusses beans (not recipes). I have read an entire book
about pencils, zippers and paperclips, so you would think someone has
written a book about beans.

Thanks

tom

Tom or Mary > wrote:

> I just bought some beans called "Canary" beans which appear tohave
> originated in Peru. It made be wonder ( not Kentucky Wonder) if "dried"
> beans are native to North and South America.

Depends on the beans. Here is some information from various sources.

Phaseolus vulgaris and Ph. lunatus varieties are native to the Americas.
A lot of other beans are native to Asia, e.g. mung bean (Ph. aureus),
Urd bean (Ph. mungo), Black Chinese bean (Glycine max), Adzuki bean (Ph.
angularis), Lablab bean (Dolichos lalblab), also native to Africa/Middle
East, Black-eyed bean (Vigna sinensis), Rice bean (Ph. calcaratus) and
and Soybean (Glycine max); or to Africa/Middle East, e.g. Broad or fava
bean (Vicia faba), Ful medames (Lathyrus sativus), and Pigeon pea
(Cajanus cajan).

Victor

Tom or Mary wrote:

> I just bought some beans called "Canary" beans which appear tohave
> originated in Peru. It made be wonder ( not Kentucky Wonder) if
> "dried" beans are native to North and South America. Also does anyone
> know of a good "bean" book which discusses beans (not recipes). I
> have read an entire book about pencils, zippers and paperclips, so
> you would think someone has written a book about beans.

Short summary: Fava beans, and some others, are native to the Old
World; but the now-common ones are mostly from the Americas:

Before Columbus, the Old World was familiar with numerous kinds of
beans, but neither our common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, nor the lima
bean, P. lunatus, was known. Their American origin is fixed by
descriptions and references to finding them at many widely scattered
points over the Americas about 1500 and soon after.

The word "bean," like the word "vegetable," is indefinite. It is used
to refer to the seeds of many different kinds of plants.

Our use of the expression "common bean" is in accord with the
scientific name Phaseolus vulgaris, which means exactly that. It
includes our dry, field varieties, such as Navy or Pea Bean, Red
Kidney, Pinto, Great Northern, Marrow, and Yellow Eye. It also includes
all our edible-podded garden beans called stringless or snap beans and
formerly called string beans. (Some varieties are stringy.)
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...ns/vegetabletr
avelers/beans.html


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