2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[flowerbug]

Got an email yesterday from a lady Maryland who wants to be a part of the Network grow out this summer. She also has a purple podded bean with black seeds and very long pods that she is going to send to me. She says 9 plants can feed a whole family all summer and then some. She grows asparagus beans although not exclusively, so I had a feeling that the seeds she wants to send me could be that species. I don't know for sure though. I asked her for a photo of the seeds, which she sent. I'm posting the photo of the seeds here so anyone that is more famililar with other species of beans other than the ones I deal with all the time can take a look at these seeds. Tell me what species of bean she is sending to me.

View attachment 39060

they don't look like hyacynth beans, don't look like succotash beans or lima beans either, so perhaps my best guess is a regular bean, aka vulgaris. but a guess, i'd need a better picture with more detail than i can get from magnifying that picture...

 

[Blue-Jay]

If species identity is too difficult with the current photo. I will take more photos when the seeds get here and post them. In the meantime perhaps will Zeedman will weigh in on this photo. He grows a lot of different beans and species.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

They're asparagus beans, Vinga unguiculata var. sesquipadale a.k.a yard long bean. Couldn't tell you the specific variety, there is more than one black seeded one

 

[flowerbug]

They're asparagus beans, Vinga unguiculata var. sesquipadale a.k.a yard long bean. Couldn't tell you the specific variety, there is more than one black seeded one

thank you! that would explain why they weren't familiar to me as i've never grown those before here. i have grown some black eye peas before but those look quite different.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Thank you @Pulsegleaner ! I thought there was a possibility that someone would identify the species. Have you every seen purple podded asparagus beans. This lady says that is what they produce. What do they taste like. Different that p. vulgaris snap beans or similar?

 

[Zeedman]

Got an email yesterday from a lady Maryland who wants to be a part of the Network grow out this summer. She also has a purple podded bean with black seeds and very long pods that she is going to send to me. She says 9 plants can feed a whole family all summer and then some. She grows asparagus beans although not exclusively, so I had a feeling that the seeds she wants to send me could be that species. I don't know for sure though. I asked her for a photo of the seeds, which she sent. I'm posting the photo of the seeds here so anyone that is more famililar with other species of beans other than the ones I deal with all the time can take a look at these seeds. Tell me what species of bean she is sending to me.

View attachment 39060

I agree that those seeds appear to be Vigna unguiculata, some type of cowpea. As for it being a yardlong bean (which is just a sub-species of cowpea)... I would have to take your (or the sender's) word for it, since that is not definitively supported by the seed's appearance. All of the yardlongs I grow have more elongated seeds than those in the photo.

I have not seen a purple-podded yardlong bean with black seeds either; the red- or purple-podded varieties I've grown were red-seeded. All of the black-seeded varieties I've grown were green-podded. You mentioned that the grower also grows other yardlongs... are you certain these are the seeds of the red-podded variety? I'd be very interested in trialing these, @Bluejay77 , if you could spare a few seeds.

 

[flowerbug]

ah, ok, i have seen cowpeas before and even had about a dozen different kinds given to me but i never grew them and gave them away to someone who expressed an interest in trying them. oh, and none of them were black seeded.

 

[Zeedman]

Thank you @Pulsegleaner ! I thought there was a possibility that someone would identify the species. Have you every seen purple podded asparagus beans. This lady says that is what they produce. What do they taste like. Different that p. vulgaris snap beans or similar?

(added emphasis mine)

Most yardlongs (also referred to as 'long beans' or 'asparagus beans') have different culinary qualities than common snap beans. They are thinner & firmer, but very susceptible to over-cooking. The taste can range from asparagus-like (hence one of the nicknames) to sweet, to nutty, to unique flavors that defy description. They are best used in Oriental recipes; people used to only "green beans" may or may not find the flavor(s) to their liking. We sometimes eat yardlong beans as a side dish, seasoned with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder. The firmer varieties, IMO, make outstanding dilly beans.

I should also point out that while yardlong beans are specifically bred for use as snaps, it is quite common in the South to use the immature pods of cowpeas as snaps. Southern gardeners have commented that cowpea snaps are sometimes mixed & cooked together with the fresh-shelled beans.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

That's true. I have at least one cowpea accession that will probably make a great snap when I have enough of it to eat some. I gnawed out an immature pod at seasons end and it was sweet as a sugar snap pea.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I agree that those seeds appear to be Vigna unguiculata, some type of cowpea. As for it being a yardlong bean (which is just a sub-species of cowpea)... I would have to take your (or the sender's) word for it, since that is not definitively supported by the seed's appearance. All of the yardlongs I grow have more elongated seeds than those in the photo.

I have not seen a purple-podded yardlong bean with black seeds either; the red- or purple-podded varieties I've grown were red-seeded. All of the black-seeded varieties I've grown were green-podded. You mentioned that the grower also grows other yardlongs... are you certain these are the seeds of the red-podded variety? I'd be very interested in trialing these, @Bluejay77 , if you could spare a few seeds.

Now that I take a closer look at them, I agree they look a little short and wide for yard-long bean seeds. They look more like the black Vietnamese/Thai (I honestly don't know which now) ones I used to get by the scoop in Chinatown.
While not "yard long" I have had ones of those that made pods a good 12-14 inches, so it suppose confusion is possible

That being said, I HAVE seen purple podded black seeded ones there. The first time I grew them (and the only time what it grew was definitively Vietnamese, I got two plants, one with very juicy fat dead white pods (which became the start of "Coals in the Candle" and one that made very restricted purple pods (which I called "Mummy's Finger" and send off to someone else) so they are possible.

Incidentally, you may to scratch the seed coat on one of those. My black seeded ones that look like that often have a trait where the inner cotyledons are green as opposed to white (common in peas, chickpeas, and many other legumes, but I had never heard of it in cowpeas until these.)