In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:

Self-duh! Just twigged: presumably Arabic _fasulya_ for French and
runner beans is a corruption of _phaseolus_. You mentioned "el ful"
for the refined cultivar of field beans*: my memory has just, to me
impressively, popped up that broad beans are _ful cubrussi_, or
"Cyprus ful". (But I needed the dictionary to find that the Turkish
equivalent of "spill the beans" is also an expression involving
[broad] beans!)

Interesting. I didn't know most of that. But I didn't say that
"el ful" was a refined cultivar of field beans, but that they are
different types (probably different for a very long time). The
field/broad beans we grow wouldn't do at all well in the climate
of Egypt, and I assume that the converse is true for "el ful".
Given that broad beans are one of the hardiest of our vegetables
and are derived from a southerly wild plant, I suspect a long period
of selecting for hardiness.

What I _don't_ twig is the association of haricot etc beans with the
Americas, which I've heard and read repeatedly over the years.
Classical Latin had words for them, so they must have been around for
a long time. Are our modern varieties the result of crosses with
American species?

No. The Phaseolus species ARE American, and were imported in the 16th
century. The classical Latin terms are for the Vicia faba varieties
(and possibly for some of the species we rarely grow, but are common
in India). One of my books says that there is a Phaseolus species
native to India (the snail flower), but it is rarely eaten as far
as I know.

*Got round to growing them yet?

Nope. I doubt that I shall, as they are easier to buy.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.