So the two beans are very different in productivity and growth habit. Doesn't seem like they would be related varieties.
Oops! Didn't see it was a bush.....
Haven't tried it, but the fact that it has large seeds & does well in your climate is a strong testimonial. It looks & sounds very much like Brockton Horticultural (there's that word again) which I grew about 15 years ago. That bean too had short vines, a short DTM, and fairly large, elongated seeds that were good as shellies. I just looked, and still have seed; but no longer maintain it, and that seed is probably dead.
"Bird Egg #3", my largest-seeded bean & favorite shelly, is due for renewal next year.
Hard to tell with no scale... are those fairly large beans? And is this perhaps the same bean being offered by SSE as "Stevenson's Black"? The Yearbook description seems to match.
Stevenson's Blue Eye - Semi Runner
This bean is actually dark bluish purple when aged a bit. It has shorter seed than Stevenson's Black Eye. Ralph originally listed the two beans in the SSE yearbook as different and there are differences. This bean is just slightly larger than yellow eye bean.
That single plant was grown in a large pot, under chicken wire... but wind broke off the largest branch as pods were developing. That plant still produced a fair quantity of seed (3 ounces) . One of the most beautiful soybeans I grow, stripes of black & shades of dark brown and reddish brown. Of the few deeply striped soybeans, this is the only one which will mature in my climate. A high-yielding variety with a high protein content (46% dry weight). I will try to do a further seed increase in 2022.
@Zeedman my goodness that first soybean and the 3rd one are so unique! I've never seen any others like them. I have Agate and Grand Forks (I got a few plants to survive this year) but the saddles are dark brown not black like those, and that last one reminds of that really unique fava bean; can't recall it's name but it's got that swirly mottled colouring too in greens and browns I think. Do you grow Gaia?
The TYPE of Fava is called a fingerprint fava, the specific variety you are thinking of may be Ojo de Dios.
Saddled soybeans are fairly common (I will be posting photos of a few more soon) but An,dunscaja is one of the more attractive soybeans (as is DV 2371). The reason I acquired them though, is their high nutritional output. There is generally an inverse relationship in soybeans between high protein (and/or earliness) and high productivity. What makes both An,dunscaja and DV 2371 special - aside from their appearance - is that they both have high protein and high productivity. Probably not well suited for edamame (I didn't try either this year) but very nutrient dense for processing. In contrast, most commercially-sold edamame soybeans are only about 40% protein dry weight.
