"Black & White" Tepary Bean

Phaseolus acutifolius Origin: Unknown (Southwest US/Northern Mexico) Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~20 Germination tested 12/2023: 98% Life cycle: Annual We love tepary beans. This underutilized species of bean is the result of a separate domestication event from common bean, lima bean, and all other bean species. It was domesticated from tiny wild beans that still live in what's now northern Mexico and the US southwest, home to many Indigenous peoples whose ancestors first began consuming Phaseolus acutifolius directly from the wild, before eventually bringing it into cultivation and improving it year after year through selection. This particular tepary bean came to us from the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System, but unfortunately the trail goes cold there. Unlike most other tepary beans in the collection, the origin of this one is unknown — but it most certainly traces its roots to one or more Indigenous people in that region. We are hopeful that its uniquely bea