The word "bean" and its Germanic cognates (e.g. German Bohne) have existed in common use in West Germanic languages since before the 12th century,[3] referring to broad beans, chickpeas, and other pod-borne seeds. This was long before the New World genus Phaseolus was known in Europe. After Columbian-era contact between Europe and the Americas, use of the word was extended to pod-borne seeds of Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna. The term has long been applied generally to many other seeds of similar form,[3][4] such as Old World soybeans, peas, other vetches, and lupins, and even to those with slighter resemblances, such as coffee beans, vanilla beans, castor beans, and cocoa beans. Thus the term "bean" in general usage can refer to a host of different species.[5]
Local bean from Nepal.
Seeds called "beans" are often included among the crops called "pulses" (legumes),[3] although a narrower prescribed sense of "pulses" reserves the word for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain.[citation needed][clarification needed] The term bean usually excludes legumes with tiny seeds and which are used exclusively for forage, hay, and silage purposes (such as clover and alfalfa). The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization defines "BEANS, DRY" (item code 176)[5] as applicable only to species of Phaseolus. However, in the past, several species, including Vigna angularis (adzuki bean), V. mungo (black gram), V. radiata (green gram), and V. aconitifolia (moth bean), were classified as Phaseolus and later reclassified, and general usage is not governed by that definition.[6][failed verification][7][failed verification]
Cultivation
Field beans (broad beans, Vicia faba), ready for harvest
Unlike the closely related pea, beans are a summer crop that needs warm temperatures to grow. Legumes are capable of nitrogen fixation and hence need less fertiliser than most plants. Maturity is typically 55–60 days from plantin