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Concept
Phaseolus vulgaris
Summary
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, along with other Phaseolus species, is as a member of the legume family Fabaceae. Like most members of this family, common beans acquire the nitrogen they require through an association with rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
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. Best-known cultivar groups include the kidney bean, the navy bean, the pinto bean, and the wax bean. The other major types of commercially grown beans are the runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) and the broad bean (Vicia faba). Beans are grown on every continent except Antarctica. Worldwide, 27 million tonnes of dried and 24 million tonnes of green beans were grown in 2016. In 2016, Myanmar was the largest producer of dried beans, while China produced 79% of the world's total of green beans.
The wild P. vulgaris is native to the Americas. It was originally believed that it had been domesticated separately in Mesoamerica and in the southern Andes region, giving the domesticated bean two gene pools. However, recent genetic analyses show that it was domesticated in Mesoamerica first, and traveled south, probably along with squash and maize (corn). The three Mesoamerican crops constitute the "Three Sisters" central to indigenous North American agriculture.
The common bean arrived in Europe as part of the Columbian exchange. In 1528, the pope, Giulio de' Medici, received some white beans, which thrived. Five years later, he gave a bag of beans as a present to his niece, Catherine, on her wedding to Prince Henri of France, along with the county of the Lauragais, whose county town is Castelnaudary, now synonymous with the white bean dish of cassoulet.
Official source
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