Dry Beans — Biology

Metadata research draftEvidence limits

⚠️ Status: drafted from the literature survey (research/dry-beans-seeds/report.md). Items below are paper-existence/coverage notes, not numeric claims. All Unknown until source notes/full text (see docs/methodology/evidence.md).

Taxonomy

• Family: Fabaceae (legume). Evidence: Known (basic biology).
• Primary species: Phaseolus vulgaris (common/french bean; the dry-bean/frijol species). A huge cultivar/landrace diversity; snap/pole vs bush/field habit. Evidence: Known for species identity; cultivar classification needs sources.
• Mesoamerican origin (domesticated in Mexico/Central America) — Known from crop origin knowledge; candidate sources will attach.

Growth habit

• Bush (dwarf) and pole (climbing) habits — the PRD’s small-scale case concerns bush beans growable in a plot. Determinate (bush) vs indeterminate (pole) — Known generally; variety-specific traits need sources.
• Growth form, height, and podding pattern — Unknown until varieties specified.

Root system

• Taproot with fibrous laterals. Nitrogen-fixation relevance: Phaseolus forms rhizobia-commonbean symbiosis given compatible inoculum. Root/nodulation behavior — Unknown/candidates exist (rhizobia N-fix).

Lifecycle

• Annual. Days to first flower / to dry-pod maturity — Unknown; depends on bush vs pole, region, photoperiod (day-length sensitivity). Mexico highland relevance.

Flowering, pollination, and pod set

• Flowering is triggered partly by day-length (short-day sensitive in some; can be grown as summer crop). Self-pollinating mostly — Unknown/partial.
• Insect pollination role documented for common bean (candidate 10.58694/20.500.12479/227) — pollination and natural-enemy papers exist.
• Pod development: pods fill then dry down at maturity (dry-bean harvest). Pod shatter risk at maturity flagged.

Seed (the dry-bean kernel)

• True seeds (hard kernels, several per pod). Seed coat color/type notes are a Mexico/culinary tradition (black, pinto, kidney…) — Unknown for specific types until sources.
• Starch + protein makeup is staple-relevant (candidate protein papers exist). See cooking.md.

Nitrogen fixation

• Phaseolus vulgaris symbiotically fixes N with Rhizobium — well-documented (candidates 10.1007/978-94-011-2100-2_8, 10.3390/agronomy16010002). Exact N rate contributed — Unknown until sources.

Open questions → open-questions.md

• Photoperiod response × habit at garden latitudes; nodule formation without inoculation; variety × season for Mexico.