LIMA BEAN

Lima beans are usually perennial. They flower late in summer and are robust in growth. The small-seeded lima is considered to have evolved about 500 years ago from the large-seeded one. It is a wiry and hardy annual and is called "sieva" in Spanish.
Both small and large-seeded types have bushing and climbing forms, but lima beans are mostly climbers. After one year the plants yield many pods, each having two to four beans. A vine growing in wasteland in Brisbane gave a good bucketful of dry beans.

Plant Names
Botanical Family: 
LEGUMINOSAE
Common Name: 
LIMA BEAN
Genus: 
??
Species: 
??
About the Name: 

phaselos is Greek for bean, and lunatus, Latin for "moon-shaped".

Origins: 

Large-seeded types were developed on the coastal plains of Peru 5000 years ago.

Plant Description: 

Lima beans are usually perennial. They flower late in summer and are robust in growth. The small-seeded lima is considered to have evolved about 500 years ago from the large-seeded one. It is a wiry and hardy annual and is called "sieva" in Spanish.
Both small and large-seeded types have bushing and climbing forms, but lima beans are mostly climbers. After one year the plants yield many pods, each having two to four beans. A vine growing in wasteland in Brisbane gave a good bucketful of dry beans.

Variety Notes: 

Some old varieties may contain high levels of dangerous cyanogenic glucocides, the effects of which can be counteracted with soaking, boiling, draining and peeling off the testa (skin).
Madagascar beans are free of toxic substances and have large seeds that are white with burgundy blotches and speckles. We have seen them growing in many Brisbane front yards on trellises, like grape vines do. This variety was listed in a Yates seed catalogue early this century as an excellent lima for coastal and rather warm areas. Many samples of Madagascar beans have been sent to Seed Savers.
Cold-tolerant varieties of bush lima beans also exist.

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