Phaseolus coccineus
THIS IS FROM
www.fao.org/docrep/t0646e/T0646E07.htmBotanical name: Phaseolus coccineus L.
Family: Fabaceas
Common names. English: scarlet runner bean; Spanish: ayocote (name of Nahuatl origin, central Mexico), patol (Mexico [Zacatecas]), botil (Mexico [Chiapas]), chomborote, piloy (high plateau of Guatemala), cubá (Costa Rica)
This species has been cultivated in the high parts of Mesoamerica for many centuries. In pre-Columbian Mexico. the people of the Anahuac cultivated it extensively and ensured its distribution. Its introduction into southern Colombia (Antioquia and Nariño) and Europe (where it is known as scarlet runner bean and haricot d'Espagne) could have occurred in the seventeenth century before reaching other parts of the world, such as the Ethiopian highlands. It has been found in archaeological remains only in Mexico in Durango and Puebla, and wild only in Tamaulipas. Although archaeological information is very scarce, it could be assumed that its Mexican domestication took place in humid high zones.
Changes in maize varieties (earlier-maturing and with softer stems) and the use of fertilizers (for example, urea) and herbicides in maize fields led to the gradual abandonment of this crop in eastern Guatemala and in Costa Rica. It is reasonable to suppose that the same is happening in other areas of its cultivation. Because of its ecological niche, P. coccineus has suffered heavy competition from exotic crops with a higher consumption and better market, for instance vetch, broad bean, cabbage, garlic and onion.
P. coccineus has been used in its nuclear area, particularly for its dry or green seeds. The consumption of young seeds enables the crop to be expanded to higher altitudes. since the fleshy root produces a second growth after light frosts (for example in Huehuetenango, Guatemala). The root of this legume has medicinal uses in Mexico and the flowers are also eaten. Its gaudy influorescences may be the reason for its recent expansion as an ornamental plant in Europe and the United States. The green pod is used as a vegetable in western Europe and the dry seeds (white seeds) are eaten in some traditional dishes.
Botanical description
A pluriannual species of great vegetative vigour, with stems of several metres (only in a few modern cultivars are there shrubby forms) which emerge from a fleshy root, P. coccineus is easily distinguished by: its large seeds (the weight of 100 seeds is 80 to 170 g and 6 to 12 g for the wild from)) and small, narrow. elliptical hilum; and its large influorescences (20 cm and in excess of 20 fruit-bearing stems) with scarlet, white or, more rarely, two-colour flowers. It carries out hypogeal germination, has a fleshy root which is divided and generally fusiform and which allows cotyledonary young shoots to resprout over several consecutive years. It flowers 50 days after sowing, with early varieties, or at the start of the rains, and continues to produce flowers over a long period, except in the shrubby varieties. In the majority of cases P. coccineus at undergoes cross-pollination, assisted by its extrorse stigma and nectaries and through the action of bees and humming birds. Thus far, it is considered self-compatible.
The seed of wild varieties is dispersed through explosive dehiscence of the pods during the dry period. In some wild populations there is a short latency; the seed's viability in natural conditions does not exceed three years.
Like P. polyanthus, P. coccineus tolerates higher precipitations than other species of Phaseolus(Table -3), provided that the soil has good drainage; that is with derivatives of volcanic ash, fine particles, etc. It grows at cooler temperatures than other cultivated species and is generally heliophytic, although it tolerates mists.
Its nuclear area extends from Durango to Veracruz and Puebla. In Guatemala. it is traditionally sown on the slopes of the Cuchumatanes range, on the high plateau of Huehuetenango up to Alta Verapaz and Sacatepequez, and in the highest parts of the rest of Central America. The wild form of P. coccineus (although unable to be confirmed as ancestral throughout its distribution) extends from Chihuahua in Mexico to Panama, generally between 1 400 and 2 800 m in the humid high forest.
Genetic diversity
In its wild lone, this species displays a great phenotypical variation in its current state of evolution, in contrast with the other wild species of the genus (there is some similarity with P. of South America). Wild P. coccineus may be considered to be a complex of several forms, now in active speciation, throughout its distribution range. Some very differentiated forms, such as P. glabellus may have become separated. constituting an early from of a group of which it is now difficult to distinguish all the variants Allogamy is frequent in these plants, and the crossing of wild and cultivated forms, which have been displaced by humans, has changed the speciation patterns. Because of its active process of evolution, this species complex is not an easy task for the taxonomist but, by the same token, it offers great potential for the plant improver.
In addition to a group of four wild forms with scarlet flowers, mention should be made of another four forms with purple flowers. P. polyanthus is a related species at the boundary of the primary genetic stock of the scarlet runner bean, since in some cases it can be crossed with the latter, as in Putumayo, Ecuador or in Imbabura, Colombia. Likewise, P. vulgaris may be considered to be at the boundary of the primary genetic stock of the scarlet runner bean.
There are only a few definite cultivars, particularly among the climbers; among the indeterminate shrubby cultivars, "Patol Blanco" may be mentioned and, among the determinate shrub cultivars, "Hammond's Dwarf.
There are risks of genetic erosion in areas where the traditional maize field has been changed, as some parts of Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracrul), Guatemala and Costa Rica. Along with maize, the three species of bean (P. coccineus, P. polyanthus and P. vulgaris) and gourds were frequently sown in these areas. In the high plateau of Mexico (Durango. Zacatecas), the recent spread of the kidney bean may displace the "patoles" for reasons of cost.
P. coccineus material exists in collections of germplasm, mainly in Chapingo in Mexico (INIFAP), Pullman in the United States (USDA) and Palmira in Colombia (CIAT). The cultivated material has already been collected to a great extent. except in some areas of Guatemala (for example, Quiche), Honduras and Costa Rica, where it may be already too late to make such a collection.
For the wild material, it is necessary to collect around the great cities of Mesoamerica, particularly in the valley of Mexico, since these areas were a centre of diversity of the P. coccineus complex which is very rich in forms. Many areas still remain to be explored, in view of material collected compared with the abundant herbarium material available. The complications involved in handling these forms ex situ mean that they need to be conserved in situ.
Cultivation practices
In most of its nuclear area, P. coccineus is sown with maize and other varieties or species (P. vulgaris is, P. polyanthus) following documented practices, since precipitations allow their association. In Durango and Zacatecas (Mexico), under heavy rain conditions it is sown alone. either in widely spaced rows or broadcast. depending on the type of ploughing. Manual harvesting is still common: the pods are gathered and left to dry in the sun before being beaten and the seeds are stored in sacks.
Steve, I'm guessing heavy mulching in the winter.
Potter, Baskets - I'm making them now. I'll try to get Leo to take photos tonight.
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