Bumblebee

Bumblebee
Uses	shell or dry
Growth Habit	bush
Maturity	mid to late
Flower Color	white
Pod Color	green
Seed Color	white and dark red
Seed Pattern	figure and seam

Name and History

A Maine heirloom and part of Wanigan Associates' collection. Named for its large, "bumblee-sized" seeds.

Seed bank info:

USDA Accession: 'Bumblebee' (W6 28421)

SSE Accession: BEAN/BUSH/DRY 13

Description

Growth: Bush plants under 2 feet tall. Various growers report a rather large range of 60-110 days to harvest, but the average seems to be 90 days.
Flowers: White.
Pods: Up to 5 inches long with 3-5 seeds in each.
Seeds: Very large in both shell and dry stages. Fat and oval-shaped. Seeds mostly white with a very dark red figure around the hilum, in a shape described variously as a butterfly, angel or lobster. A dark red line extends along the midline of the seed from above the "head" of the shape. There can be almost none or quite a lot of dark red spotting around the edges of the figure and line. Looks very similar to the Holy/Monstrance, Angel, and Soldier beans of Europe and New Zealand, but is a different shape than any of those; not as spherical as Holy and Monstrance, and not as thin as Angel and Soldier.

Uses

Shell or dry.