Flat beans, also known as helda beans, romano beans (not to be confused with the

borlotti bean The cranberry bean is a variety of common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') first bred in Colombia as the ''cargamanto''. It is also known as the Borlotti bean, Roman bean, romano bean (not to be confused with the Italian flat bean, a green bean al ...

) and "sem fhali" in some Indian states, are a variety of ''

Phaseolus vulgaris ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...

'', known as runner bean (not to be confused with ''

Phaseolus coccineus ''Phaseolus coccineus'', known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, which, however, can also refer to the lima bean, a different species. It is ...

'') with

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

pods that have a characteristic wide and flat shape. Flat beans are normally cooked, and served as the whole pods, the same way as other

green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

s. Like many other types of bean (see

broad bean ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Vari ...

for example) they can also be dehusked or ''shelled'', and the whitish seeds dried and stored, but there is no incentive to grow them for this purpose as higher-yielding bean varieties are available. Modern flat bean varieties picked while young are

stringless Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

. Older varieties, and beans allowed to ripen on the vine, may contain tough strings.

External links

* http://www.thinkvegetables.co.uk/vegetable.asp?VegetableID=9
Beans, Peas & Lentils

Edible legumes Edible nuts and seeds Vegetarian cuisine Food plant cultivars {{vegetable-stub