#791 Phaseolus coccineus Common Names: runner bean, scarlet runner bean, Dutch runner bean, Case knife bean, seven year bean Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (bean Family) Get link to this Profile or click for Datasheet Wallpaper Gallery (1 images)

Scarlet runner beans have been grown in the United States since frontier days. Here scarlet runner beans grow along the kitchen garden fence at the Pioneer Farm Museum in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Click to download a large (800x600) version of this image.

scarlet runner beans

Location
Runner beans are native to the high elevation mountains of Central America. They have been domesticated for more than 2000 years by natives of the region, but wild relatives of the runner bean still occur in Guatemala and Mexico, where they grow in cool, partially shaded valleys in mixed pine-oak forests.

Culture
Runner bean flowers are perfect. That means they have both male and female parts: pollen producing stamens and pollen receiving pistils. However they are unable to self-pollinate unless an insect "trips" the flower by alighting on the keel, causing the stamens to come in contact with the pistil. Hummingbirds, bumblebees and honeybees usually do the runner bean's bidding.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Moisture: Runner beans need abundant water during flowering and pod expansion.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 7 - 11. Runner beans are evergreen in the tropics, and some cultivars don't flower until their second growing season. Where the ground does not freeze, runner beans are perennial, and can be expected to sprout back in spring from their tuberous roots. In colder regions, you can dig up the roots and store in cool, damp sand for replanting in spring. Plants that sprout back from their roots will flower much sooner than plants started from seed. Scarlet runner bean and other varieties commonly available in temperate regions are usually grown as warm season annuals and they will flower in a single growing season. Runner beans cannot tolerate frost at all, nor will they set fruit while temperatures are above 90ºF (32 ºC).
Propagation: Runner beans are grown from seed sown in place. Space 4-8 in (10-20 cm) apart and plant 2-3 in (5-7.6 cm) deep. Be sure to provide a sturdy trellis, fence or pole teepee. Do not plant until soil temperature is at least 50ºF (10 ºC).

Scarlet runner bean flowers are brilliant and beautiful on their way to becoming bean pods.

Runner beans are more popular for food in Europe. The immature pods are used like green beans. Their texture is a little coarser than green beans and so they are usually sliced lengthwise before cooking. Some consider them more flavorful than green beans. The flowers are delicious in salads. Seeds in the shelly stage are good to eat, but the mature beans can be dry and mealy and are not generally consumed except by Native Americans in Central America. They eat the starchy roots, too.

Features
Scarlet runner beans are perennial. After their first year, they will come up and flower earlier in the season. Plant some on a back fence or a trellis and enjoy the flowers and the hummingbirds year after year!

Steve Christman 9/6/00; updated 8/16/03, 2/17/05

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