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All modern types and varieties of green beans are plants belonging to the same legume family, but belonging to different genus: Vigna and Phaseolus. Both one and the other varieties have been used by people for thousands of years, but the growth of consumption of whole pods in the stage of milky-wax ripeness in the world began only a couple of centuries ago.
Historians first discovered the mention of green beans in Chinese written sources dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.But the oldest material artifacts were found on the other side of the world - in South America. Here bean plants were cultivated by the tribes of the Incas and the Aztecs, as evidenced by petrified seeds.
In the European culinary tradition, the use of juicy beans blades appeared not earlier than the 18th century, and until then, plants brought from the New World could more often be found in flowerbeds.
The Italians were the first to plant varieties of green beans. And then the fashion for dishes from thick juicy blades moved to France and spread through the Old World.
Modern systematization of
bean varieties However, if hearty meals from bean seeds began to be considered food for the common people, the pods with thick, juicy walls and barely formed seeds turned out to be food for the nobility. The fact is that gentle blades remained for a very short time, and then, with the beginning of seed development and ripening, the inner surface of the valves was covered with a hard parchment layer. It is not always possible to gather milky beans with soft pods from the bed.
Over time, as new varieties appeared, the division into:
- sugar or asparagus bean varieties, which do not have a fibrous inedible leaf cover, and the seeds are edible, but small;
- semi-sugar or universal varieties, at first giving very dense tasty pods, and then forming a good crop of seeds;
- shelling or grain varieties, the main purpose of the cultivation of which is to obtain a bountiful harvest of seeds.
According to the shape of plants, the classification of varieties of beans is divided into bush and curly.
Spray beans, convenient for mechanized and manual harvesting, look like small, upright or several lodging plants with a height of 40 to 60 cm. Such a culture begins to bear fruit, more cold-resistant and unpretentious.
Curly beans, depending on the variety, can form lashes of up to 5 meters in length, therefore, they require strong supports or trellis when growing. The asparagus bean presented in the photo, of a climbing variety, is more labor-intensive and not as fast-ripening as a bush variety, but the growing season in this case is longer, as is the number of pods from one plant. In addition, the plants are extremely effective and can be used as decorative beans for planting walls of buildings, fences and other vertical surfaces.
By the shape and type of beans, the existing varieties of green beans are also varied and have little resemblance to each other.
- The length of green bean pods, more common in European and Russian kitchen gardens, reaches only 6–20 cm, and in each of them up to 3 to 8 seeds ripen.
- Up to several tens of seeds can be counted in the pods of Asian cowpea, and the shovels grow for a meter long.
The coloring of the beans of green beans, as in the photo, depending on the variety, is white, yellowish, light or bright green, variegated, purple and even almost black. The same variety and colors of seeds ripen in pods by autumn.
This classification is correct with respect to both the American genus Phaseolus and the Asian Vigna, although the appearance of the pods is strikingly different.
Description and photo of species and varieties of green beans in a wave of
From the point of view of biology, wave is a genus consisting of several dozen subspecies of herbaceous plants that are closely related to common beans.
However, along with the external similarity in species and varieties of green beans of Asian and American origin, there are many differences. The main thing is:
- the length and structure of the pods, which in cowpea is much longer and thinner;
- complete absence of a parchment layer on the inside of the valves;
- are rather small seeds that do not require soaking during cooking.
In culture, the most common Asian green beans, called cow or serpentine peas.
Today there are many varieties of green beans in this species worldwide, and the photo shows one of the most beloved in the United States. This is Yardlong beans, long ago become an equivalent substitute for the usual green beans and giving delicious pods of a meter length. Such a culture can produce pods of not only traditional green color, but also burgundy or violet. Red bean vigna is no less popular and interesting in growing.
The Asian species of beans - mash, urd, adzuki are related to the Vigna genus.
Mung bean or mung bean is one of the most ancient, man-domesticated plants of the Vigna genus. The culture is valued for small oval-shaped green seeds and is traditional for India, Pakistan and other countries in the region.
Adzuki, another species of cowpea, grows in different regions of Southeast Asia, and first entered the culture in the Himalayas. From here beans beans with red small seeds came to China, Korea and Japan.
Today varieties of this unusual bean with white, gray, black variegated seeds appeared. And in the Land of the Rising Sun, this type of bean is valued almost on a par with soybeans.
Urd, also called black wave, is due to the color of medium-sized seeds, and has been known in culture for about 4 thousand years. This type of black bean is widespread in the south and southeast of Asia.
The plant is an annual, grassy bush with a height of 20 to 80 cm. The resulting pods are very small, only 4–7 cm in length, covered with a hard pile. Both young shovels and mature seeds are used as food.
There are among the species and varieties of these green beans, as in the photo, the plants are extremely spectacular. This is Vigna Caracal, which originates from South America and is grown in the European part as indoor or garden, decorative beans.
At the time of flowering, plants up to 7 meters high are covered with racemose buds of variegated snail-like flowers, which makes this variety of curling beans very attractive for amateur gardening.
If you wish, it’s not difficult to get long vigna pods without any coarse layer on your plot without any damage, even raw. Russian breeders are already offering gardeners the first varieties of this type of green beans, which are no different in photo and taste, and even exceed Chinese and Japanese plants in endurance.
Green Beans Vigna Liana
Curly beans are pretty strong-growing. Shoots climb to a height of 3 meters, so support is essential for growing. Pods are light green, rough, dense, at the time of milky-wax ripeness do not have coarse fibers. Ripening at the end of the growing season, after 55–60 days, the seeds are round-oval, small, brownish-purple.
This green bean has great taste, both raw and ready-made. Young beans can be used for cooking a variety of dishes and procured for future use, freezing and canning.
Photographs and description of varieties of green beans Vigna Makaretti
The length of the pods of this variety of green beans Vigna, as in the photo, reaches 30–35 cm. Beans with a slight bend, light green leaves and brown seeds ripening in 60–65 days.
This is a variety of curly beans with strong growth and excellent taste of the blades, preserving the taste and color, and when frozen. Versatility of use, unpretentiousness to growing conditions and decent yield. In addition to varieties with green pods, there is red and purple vigna beans, whose shoulder blades are colored in different shades of purple.
Description and photo of species and varieties of green beans common
For American or ordinary beans, familiar to consumers in Russia and European countries, beans with wider and shorter wings are characteristic. Such pods often have a pointed nose, and they themselves may not be cylindrical, but flattened.
Among the varieties of green beans, the most valued are those that form even dense, pods of cylindrical shape, with thick walls. This asparagus beans without parchment inclusions inside the shoulder blades and small seed ovaries. In addition to such varieties, gardeners are offered universal plants, the valves of which grow coarser as the nutritious seeds ripen in various colors and shapes. Pods of common beans can be either green or white, variegated, yellow or purple. Violet and red beans in this case, during heat treatment, loses its original color and the blades turn green.
Green string beans Crane
Harvest string bean differs modest size. The bush height hardly reaches 50 cm. But at the same time the plant invariably gives a set of high-quality delicious beans close to the cylindrical form. Pod length from 12 to 15 cm, green leaf color. Rip in 48–50 days from the beginning of the growing season.
The seeds of this bean are white, oblong-oval in shape. Beans of universal purpose, suitable for canning and freezing.
Bluekhilda: Curly Vegetable Beans
Early variety of green, purple beans with high yield and good taste of bright pods. The plant is a universal purpose and serves as a source of dietary blades, and mature white bean seeds.
Beans Purple Queen
Mid-season variety of spray beans with dark, almost black pods, up to 15–17 cm long. The shoulder blades are soft, crispy, without coarse fibers. Spray beans are hardy, well tolerate dry periods and temporary cooling. 
Flamingo: varieties of green beans with variegated beans
The hardy bushes of this variety can withstand 50–60 growing beans of unusual variegated color. The seeds ripening inside the pods are also variegated, have decent quality and nutritional value. Young shoulder blades are delicate, full-time and contain a lot of protein and fiber. The variety of multi-purpose spray beans is unpretentious and stands out for its excellent yield.
String green beans Blue Lake
A very early variety of curling beans with delicate cylindrical pods up to 16 cm long. Inside the beans at the end of the growing season, white beans of small size ripen, also edible. The plant is tall, demanding to the conditions of light, watering and nutrition. Willingly responds to the maintenance of a bountiful harvest.
Green beans asparagus beans Laura
The ripening period for seeds of this variety is 55–65 days. Numerous light-yellow beans, up to 14 cm long, are formed on the bushes of this bean variety. The pods are cylindrical, with a pointed tip and completely devoid of fibers and parchment inclusions. Spray-shaped plants, compact, eagerly and fruitfully bearing.
Enchantress - black beans inside white pods
A characteristic feature of this variety of spray beans is early maturity and glossy black seeds ripening inside yellow or waxy shade of round beans. The length of the pods of delicious taste is 14–16 cm. Black beans, like the young shovels, are cooked, tasty and contain many valuable nutrients. Plants are resistant to common diseases, hardy and fruitful.
