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Phaseolus coccineus
Also called Runner Bean, Scarlet Runner Bean, Multiflora Bean
Scarlet runner bean is a fast-climbing vine grown for its edible beans and pods and its red flowers. It needs a sturdy support, full sun and steady moisture, and is often treated as an annual in cold climates.
Phaseolus coccineus, known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, which can also refer to the lima bean, a different species.
It is grown both as a food plant and an ornamental plant.
Runner beans were grown as food plants in North America and Europe from the 1600s, and also as ornamentals for their attractive flowers. However, they came to be used primarily as a garden ornamental plant in North America, including for temporary screening. The flowers attract hummingbirds, bees and other insects. In the UK and other European countries – where the vegetable is a popular choice for kitchen gardens and allotments – the flowers came to be ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans.
Tepary bean · Slimleaf bean · Year Bean · Slimjim bean · Phaseolus glabellus · Gray's Bean · Bean · Lima bean · Spotted bean · Few Flowered Bean · Thicket bean · Santa Rita Mountain bean
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phaseolus coccineus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
