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This genus is accepted, and its native range is U.S.A. to N. South America and NW. Argentina, Tanzania.
Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean)

[LOWO]

Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

Note

Previous accounts of the Phaseoleae by Baudet (1978) and Lackey (1981) recognised 90 and 84 genera and c. 1540 and 1480 species respectively in the tribe. In an equivalent, i.e. traditionally held view of Phaseoleae, 89 genera and (1554)–1567–(1580) species are treated here (Table 9; Fig. 47). Changes between Baudet (1978) and this treatment are that eleven genera are now in synonymy or have subsequently been placed in Millettieae, two genera have been transferred from Desmodieae and eight new genera have been added. Vigna has traditionally been thought to comprise some 150–200 species, but Vigna sens. strict. may contain fewer than 100.

Recent molecular analyses of the tribe, however, have emphasised both the polyphyletic and paraphyletic nature of Phaseoleae as traditionally circumscribed (Bruneau & Doyle, 1990; Doyle & Doyle, 1993; Delgado Salinas et al., 1993; Bruneau et al., 1995; Doyle et al., 1997, 2000; Kajita et al., 2001; Goel et al., 2001; Lee & Hymowitz, 2001). This has required a radical realignment of elements of the phaseoloids (Table 9; Fig. 47), with at least two major clades being evident: Phaseoleae subtribes Diocleinae and Ophrestiinae which together with tribe Abreae are allied to the core-Millettieae (Fig. 45), and the remaining groups comprising a Phaseoleae sens. lat. clade. The rbcL phylogeny of Kajita et al. (2001) and the ITS analysis of Hu et al. (2002) are equivocal as to which clade subtribe Clitoriinae belongs. Phaseoleae sens. lat. also includes two traditionally independent tribes, the Desmodieae and Psoraleeae. Delimiting a recircumscribed Phaseoleae sens. strict is thus very problematic. A solution may be to recognise a broad tribe Phaseoleae, comprising the subtribes Kennediinae, Cajaninae, Phaseolinae and Glycininae, assorted basally branching genera, and tribes Desmodieae and Psoraleeae (both treated at subtribal level).

Placed in subtribe Phaseolinae, allied to Ramirezella (q.v.) and Oxyrhynchus (q.v.) in Thulin et al. (2004)
Habit
Climbing herbs
Ecology
Seasonally dry to wet lowland and montane forest, thicket, scrub and wooded grassland, from humid to desert conditions
Distribution
tropical, subtropical and warm temperate N, C and S America (from C USA to Argentina); most concentrated in Mexico and C America and with c. 3 spp. in S America endemic to the N and C Andes and Galapagos (Delgado Salinas, pers. comm.)

[FTEA]

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Herbs or subshrubs, erect, prostrate or climbing
Morphology Leaves
Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, rarely 1-foliolate; stipules persistent, not prolonged below the point of insertion, striate; stipels present
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, falsely racemose, the flowers in fascicles along the rhachis which is swollen at the insertion of the pedicels; bracts and bracteoles present, deciduous or ± persistent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers usually fairly small, yellow, white, scarlet or purple
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 5-lobed, 2-lipped; upper lip emarginate, bifid; lower lip 3-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard rounded, auriculate, often considerably reflexed, with 2 appendages or with only slight appendages at the side of the claw and a transverse constriction above or with none; wings often following the spiral of the keel, often broadened and cucullate at the apex; keel often narrow, elongated, the apex beaked and forming a spiral of 1–5 complete turns
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Vexillary stamen free; free part of other filaments usually long; anthers subuniform or 5 dorsifixed alternating with 5 basifixed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary oblong to linear, 2–many-ovuled; style tenuous below, filiform and flexible, the apical part cartilaginous and thickened, curved through at least 360°, glabrous or hairy inside towards the summit; stigma oblique on the inner side of the style-apex or sometimes smaller and terminal or subterminal, not penicillate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods linear or oblong, sometimes falcate, compressed or subcylindrical, sometimes beaked, filled between the seeds
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 3 to many, oblong or reniform; hilum oblong, short, ± central, without appendages or with them somewhat developed.

[FZ]

Leguminosae, B. Mackinder, R. Pasquet, R. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora Zambesiaca 3:5. 2001

Morphology General Habit
Herbs or subshrubs, erect, prostrate or climbing.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, rarely 1-foliolate; stipules persistent, not prolonged below the point of insertion, striate; stipels present.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, falsely racemose, the flowers in fascicles along the rhachis which is swollen at the insertion of the pedicels; bracts and bracteoles present, deciduous or ± persistent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers usually fairly small, yellow, white, scarlet or purple.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 5-lobed, 2-lipped; upper lip emarginate, bifid; lower lip 3-lobed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard rounded, auriculate, often considerably reflexed, with 2 appendages or with only slight appendages at the side of the claw and a transverse constriction above or with none; wings often following the spiral of the keel, often broadened and cucullate at the apex; keel often narrow, elongated, the apex beaked and forming a spiral of 1–5 complete turns.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Vexillary stamen free; free part of other filaments usually long; anthers subuniform or 5 dorsifixed alternating with 5 basifixed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary oblong to linear, 2–many-ovuled; style tenuous below, filiform and flexible, the apical part cartilaginous and thickened, curved through at least 360°, glabrous or hairy inside towards the summit; stigma oblique on the inner side of the style apex or sometimes smaller and terminal or subterminal, not penicillate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods linear or oblong, sometimes falcate, compressed or subcylindrical, sometimes beaked, filled between the seeds.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 3–many, oblong or reniform; hilum oblong, short, ± central, without appendages or with them somewhat developed.

[LOWO]
Use
Used for human food as major pulse and vegetable crops; P. acutifolius A.Gray (tepary bean) , P. coccineus L. (scarlet runner bean) , P. lunatus L. (lima bean) , P. vulgaris L. (common or kidney bean) and the year bean, P. dumosus Macfad. (= P. polyanthus Greenm.) are cultivated; also used for fodder, green manure and as ornamentals

Native to:

Alabama, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, California, Colombia, Connecticut, Costa Rica, Delaware, District of Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Florida, Galápagos, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nicaragua, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Panamá, Pennsylvania, Peru, South Carolina, Suriname, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Venezuela, Virginia, West Virginia

Introduced into:

Altay, Amur, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Assam, Bahamas, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Central European Rus, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Christmas I., Comoros, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Guiana, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, India, Inner Mongolia, Iraq, Irkutsk, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kazakhstan, Kazan-retto, Kenya, Kermadec Is., Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, Kuril Is., Leeward Is., Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Maldives, Mali, Manchuria, Marianas, Marshall Is., Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, North Caucasus, North European Russi, Northwest European R, Ogasawara-shoto, Pakistan, Philippines, Primorye, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Réunion, Sakhalin, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South European Russi, Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tadzhikistan, Thailand, Togo, Transcaucasus, Trinidad-Tobago, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Wake I., West Himalaya, West Siberia, Windward Is., Yakutskiya, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Phaseolus L. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Sp. Pl.: 723 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 2: 191.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 323 (1754).
  • Sp. Pl.: 723 (1753)
  • Verdcourt in Kew Bull. 24: 507–526 (1970).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Sp. Pl.: 723 (1753)
  • Verdc. in K.B. 24: 507–526 (1970)
  • in Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 323 (1754)

Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Legumes of the World Online
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0