Common Bean
Phaseolus vulgaris L.
The genus Phaseolus is large, including approximately 80 cultivated and wild species, but P. vulgaris is the most widely cultivated species (Purseglove, 1968; Freytag and Debouck, 2002; Bailey, 1975; Porch et al., 2013). The most closely related species to P. vulgaris are P. albescens, P. coccineus, P costaricensis, P. dumosus, P. parvifolius, and P. persistentus (Table 1.) (Chacón et al., 2007; Broughton et al., 2003; Bellucci et al., 2014; Delgado-Salinas et al, 2006). In addition to P. vulgaris, four other Phaseolus species are cultivated: P. dumosus (year bean), P. coccineus (scarlet runner), P. acutifolius (tepary bean), and P. lunatus (lima bean) (Bellucci et al., 2014; Lioi and Piergiovanni, 2013).