Eye of the Tiger
Eye of the Tiger | |
---|---|
Uses | dry or shell |
Growth Habit | bush/half runner |
Maturity | early to midseason |
Flower Color | white |
Pod Color | green |
Seed Color | yellow-orange and dark red |
Seed Pattern | striped |
Name and History
From Argentina and/or Chile. Currently fairly easy to find commercially in the US. Also known as:
- -Ojo de Tigre and variations on the English translation thereof, i.e. Tiger Eye, Tiger's Eye, Tiger Eyes, Tigers' Eyes.
- -the original name Pepa de Zapallo, which translates to "Pumpkin Seed" (or more exactly "Pip of the Pumpkin").
Apart from the obvious name associations with stripey orange critters and veggies, "ojo" is another name for "striped" in the bean pattern-describing world.
USDA Accession: 'Pepa de Zapallo' (PI 282054)
Uses
Dry or shell. Dry beans are thin-skinned and tend to fall apart when cooked. The shellies are quite large.
The dry beans have particularly bright, clear colors and are nice to look at.
Description
Growth: 80-100 days to dry bean harvest; 85 on average. Most describe it as a half-runner, with plants that are mostly bushy but produce a few climbing stems to 3 feet (1 meter) or less.
Flowers: White.
Pods: Green ripening to yellow. Easy to shell.
Seeds: White with red stripes in the shelly stage, drying to a beautiful bright golden orange with dark red curved stripes. Occasional beans have the colors reversed and are dark red with orange flecks. The shape is elongated and slightly flattened with a bit of a kidney bean-like bend.