Phaseolus lunatus
Common Names: butterbean, lima bean, seiva bean, butterpea
Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (bean Family)
Perennial, Annual Vine, Easy to grow - great for
beginners! Edible Plant
Description
Lima beans (butterbeans in the South) are twining vines or
herbaceous bushes, perennial in nature, but usually grown as
annuals, even in the tropics. Some of the pole types can climb more
than 12 ft (3.7 m) up a trellis or bean teepee. Some of the bush
types stay under 2 ft (0.6 m) tall. The leaves have three leaflets,
each 2-5 in (5-12.7 cm) long. The flowers are white to yellowish and
quite small, usually less than 1 in (2.5 cm) in length. Depending on
cultivar, the pods can be 2-6 in (5-15.24 cm) long and an inch or so
wide. There are more than a hundred named lima bean cultivars.
Cornucopia II lists 18 kinds of bush limas and 12 pole limas. 'Seiva'
and 'Florida Speckled Butterbean' are prolific producers in Florida.
The 'Butterpea' types are smaller, bush varieties popular in the
southern U.S. Several of the bush and pole 'Fordhook' types are
grown commercially. "Baby limas" are usually a bush type 'Fordhook'.
Location
Lima beans came originally from Central and South America. Today
they are cultivated in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical
environments throughout the world and are the main food legume in
tropical Africa.
lima bean vines
Members of the legume family and capable of "fixing" their own
nitrogen from the air (see Floridata's garden pea profile), lima
beans do not need nitrogen fertilizer. Adding nitrogen to the soil
will likely result in more vegetative growth and fewer bean pods.
Bean leaf rollers (caterpillars of the long-tailed skipper
butterfly) may damage some leaves but rarely are a serious problem.
In my garden, I have to thwart the cardinals who, not content with
the tons of sunflower seeds I give them, insist on digging up the
bean seeds just as soon as the tiny emerging stems mark their
locations.
Light: Full sun.
Moisture: Water lima beans regularly for best production.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 6 - 11. Lima beans are grown as annuals, but
they require a longer and warmer growing season than green beans,
garden peas or runner beans. Most of the pole types need 80-100 days
to produce a crop and the bush types 65 days or so. Many of the lima
bean cultivars will grow with vigor in the north but the season
won't be long enough to produce a harvestable crop. On the other
hand, limas usually won't set pods when temperatures stay over 85º F
(29.4 ºC). In zones 8B-10, they keep putting on vegetative growth
until early fall when they finally start cranking out the flowers
and pods. Then they keep producing until the first frost.
Propagation: Sow lima bean seeds when the soil is at least 50ºF
(10ºC), long after all danger of frost has past. Sow pole types 2-4
in (5-10 cm) deep and 4-8 in (10-20 cm) apart in rows 4 ft (1.2 m)
apart for training on a trellis. If you plan to let them climb on a
teepee, sow in hills 4-6 ft (1.2 m) apart. Bush types can be planted
in rows just 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) apart. Lima bean flowers are self
pollinating, but they produce large amounts of nectar. Insects,
especially bees, will cause cross-pollination between different
varieties growing within less than a mile of each other. If you want
to save your own seeds, grow just one type of lima at a time or cage
the blossoms to prevent insects from getting to the flowers. Harvest
the pods when dry and brown before they shatter and send their seeds
all over the place; or, harvest when the pods are fully expanded and
just starting to yellow, then dry them quickly. If your seeds are
infected with bean weevils, freeze them for 48 hours after drying to
kill the weevils. Dried bean seeds will maintain viability for
several years if stored in a cool, dry, and dark place. I keep mine
in a plastic box in the refrigerator (I hope the refrigerator light
goes out when the door is closed.)
butterbeans
These Florida 'Speckled Butterbeans' have been left to dry on the
vine.
Usage
Pick limas fresh or dried. They are ready for the "shelly" stage
when the pods are bulging, but haven't yet turned yellow. Fresh lima
beans generally are shelled and boiled, then used in soups, stews,
and as vegetable side dishes. An old southwestern favorite is
succotash - lima beans and corn. Simmer lima beans all day with a
ham bone for a delicious soup. Use cooked lima beans cold in salads.
In Japan they are fermented to make tempeh kara. The Chinese use
sprouted lima beans in many dishes. Try mashing cooked limas with
butter, then adding some onions. Dried lima beans are cooked by
boiling and used in many of the same ways. Limas can be allowed to
dry on the vine, or picked green and spread out to dry.
a basket of limabeans
A harvest of lovely lima beans. The green ones will be shelled,
blanched and frozen; dried ones will be shelled and stored in a jar.
Features
Lima beans have been found in Peruvian middens more than 8000 years
old. There are more than 20 species of Phaseolus, four of which are
commonly grown for food: lima beans, tepary beans (P. acutifolius),
green beans (P. vulgaris), and runner beans (P. coccineus). There
are many other legumes (members of the Fabaceae family) that also
used as food plants by humankind. Two rather exotic species are the
very high protein Goa bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and the
lovely lablab or hyacinth bean(Dolichos lablab)
WARNING
Wild lima beans have high concentrations of cyanogens and have
caused serious cyanide poisonings. Some people are sensitive to the
small amounts of cyanogenic glucosides in domestic lima beans and
cannot eat them. Cooking removes most of these toxic compounds. Lima
beans, including sprouted limas, probably should not be eaten raw. |
