Phaseolus vulgaris

Phaseolus vulgaris (judía común) — la especie que da origen a las judías verdes, de enrame, enanas y trepadoras, domesticada en América. El hogar botánico de nuestra colección de judías verdes.

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Phaseolus vulgaris — the common bean

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is the species behind most of the beans we grow to eat fresh or dried — French, dwarf, bush and climbing types alike. A tender annual legume, it is the botanical backbone of our green bean and French bean ranges within the wider peas and beans collection.

History & origin

The common bean was domesticated in the Americas thousands of years ago — remarkably, in two separate places, with one centre in Mesoamerica and another in the Andes of South America. Beans were one of the “Three Sisters” of Indigenous agriculture, grown together with maize and squash so the beans could climb the corn and enrich the soil. After Columbus, Phaseolus vulgaris spread rapidly across Europe, Africa and Asia, in many kitchens replacing the older broad bean.

Its botanical name nods to the pod's shape: Phaseolus derives from a Greek and Latin word for a little boat or skiff, while vulgaris means “common.”

Botanical characteristics

As a legume, the common bean fixes its own nitrogen through root nodules, enriching the soil as it grows. It comes in two main habits: low, self-supporting bush types that crop in a quick flush — our bush and dwarf beans — and tall climbers that crop for weeks up canes, our climbing and pole beans. Pods range from slender green and yellow to purple and flecked borlotti, and the same plant can give both tender pods to eat whole and dried beans to store.

Growing Phaseolus vulgaris from seed

Beans are tender and hate cold, wet soil, so sow after the last frost into warm, well-prepared ground, or start them in pots to plant out. Climbing types need their supports in place before sowing; bush types need none. Pick regularly once the pods come, as the more you harvest the more the plant produces. Our vegetable sowing calendar shows the timing and our plant supports guide covers the frames climbers need.

Ready to grow beans? Browse the varieties or learn the basics first.

Related categories: Green Beans · French Beans · Bush Beans · Climbing Beans · Peas & Beans

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Preguntas frecuentes

¿Qué es Phaseolus vulgaris?
Es la judía común, una leguminosa anual delicada que engloba las judías francesas, enanas, arbustivas y trepadoras.

¿De dónde proceden las judías comunes?
De América — domesticadas de forma independiente en Mesoamérica y los Andes — y extendidas por todo el mundo tras Colón.

¿Qué significa su nombre?
Phaseolus procede de una palabra para un barquito, en alusión a la forma de la vaina, y vulgaris significa “común”.

¿Necesitan soporte las judías?
Las variedades trepadoras necesitan cañas; las enanas y arbustivas se sostienen solas.

¿Mejoran las judías el suelo?
Sí — como leguminosas, fijan su propio nitrógeno a través de las raíces.