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The bean itself is black with a white stripe along the edge. They are not mature yet so will add a photo later.
Don
One question, are the beans edible?
They are quite pretty! I am game to try something new, but I have never seen these in our local seed books.
What is their growing season?
Quote from: JudyB on September 24, 2009, 06:58:48 AM
One question, are the beans edible?
They are quite pretty! I am game to try something new, but I have never seen these in our local seed books.
What is their growing season?
I think they are edible. I will try to find out more and let you know.
Don
Don, I've never seen beans like that! ;) They sure are a pretty shade of purple!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hyacinth Bean (Lablab purpureus, syn. Dolichos lablab L., Dolichos purpureus L., Lablab niger Medikus, Lablab lablab (L.) Lyons, Vigna aristata Piper, and Lablab vulgaris, L.) Savi. [1]), also called Indian Bean, Egyptian Bean or đậu ván (Vietnamese), is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae that is widespread as a food crop throughout the tropics, especially in Africa, India and Indonesia. A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known vegetable has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinth_bean
Probably more than you will ever want to know about the Hyacinth bean here
http://www.google.com/search?q=Hyacinth+bean&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
A note of CAUTION Dry seeds are poisonous due to high concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides, and can only be eaten after prolonged boiling
Don
OK so the beans are not really edible. Well we can grow hem on our shed and that will look very nice. Almost like sweet peas or red runner beans.
Well, they make a pretty picture anyway! ;D
I love hyacinths! I found some seeds that I had misplaced from a few years ago and was hoping to get some seeds from them as they were that last of a bunch sent through a seed exchange...but I don't think it was warm enough this summer to get them growing good...They bloomed but no seed pods, :(.
Nice images. I like the "flashiness" of the first one.
Becky
Those are so cool looking. Nice shots.
Judy, they ARE edible--used as a food crop. My question is do they cook the beans for a long time, after they are dry, or do they cook and eat the whole pods?