The pods are picked just before the seeds begin to swell, at which time they are tender and palatable.
Leaves are trifoliate.
When Europeans first reached America, they found the American Indians cultivating the bean along with maize, and the beans supplemented their maize diet. The Spanish explorers are perhaps the first to bring them to Europe in the sixteenth century. Uses The pods are cooked and eaten when immature. The dried mature seeds can be eaten as haricot beans. The Javanese are said to eat the leaves as a vegetable.