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Phaseolus ritensis
Santa Rita Mountain bean is a perennial trailing or climbing herb from the mountains of the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico, grown for its beans and historically for food and medicine. Its large woody taproot makes it drought tolerant once established.
Phaseolus ritensis is a plant species native to Arizona, Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Nuevo León. Common names include "Santa Rita Mountain bean" (in US) and "cocolmeca" in Mexico. It grows in forested areas in the mountains.
Phaseolus ritensis is a perennial herb with a large woody taproot. It is a trailing herb with trifoliate leaves and pink to lavender flowers.
The plant is widely valued for both food and medicine throughout much of its native range. Green and ripe fruits served as an important food source in times past. Roots are the source of medicine, glue, and a fermenting agent.
Tepary bean · Slimleaf bean · Scarlet runner · Year Bean · Slimjim bean · Phaseolus glabellus · Gray's Bean · Bean · Lima bean · Spotted bean · Few Flowered Bean · Thicket bean
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phaseolus ritensis 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.
