French bean, snap bean, bush bean, pole bean, common bean, kidney bean, pinto bean, dou fu-tofu (bean curd), green bean, navy bean, string bean, wax bean.

Twining/climbing plant with relatively long stems, can be woody or herbaceous. Vascular plant without significant woody tissue above or at the ground. Forbs and herbs may be annual, biennial, or perennial but always lack significant thickening by secondary woody growth and have perennating buds borne at or below the ground surface. Major diseases of beans in the Midwest: anthracnose, rust, bacterial blights, white and gray mold, root rots, common mosaic virus, bean yellow mosaic virus.

Before Columbus, the Old World was familiar with numerous kinds of beans, but neither the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, nor the lima bean, P. lunatus, was known. Their American origin is fixed by descriptions and references to finding them at many widely scattered points over the Americas about 1500 and soon after.
The word "bean," like the word "vegetable," is indefinite. It is used to refer to the seeds of many different kinds of plants.
The use of the expression "common bean" is in accord with the scientific name Phaseolus vulgaris, which means exactly that. It includes our dry, field varieties, such as Navy or Pea Bean, Red Kidney, Pinto, Great Northern, Marrow, and Yellow Eye. It also includes all our edible-podded garden beans called stringless or snap beans and formerly called string beans. (Some varieties are stringy.)
The English first used the name "kidney bean" in 1551 to distinguish our American common bean from Old World types.
In the South and some other parts of this country lima beans are commonly called "butter beans." In New England this colloquialism is sometimes used to refer to yellowpodded ("wax") varieties of snap beans.
Before the discovery of the New World, Europeans did have other bean species with various traditions associated with them. On 3 days of the year, the Roman head of the household went through a ritual ceremony of spitting beans out of his mouth to rid his home of evil spirits. This custom carried over to the Middle Ages, where spitting a mouthful of beans in a witch's face was considered to negate her powers. Perhaps beans were thought to be a potent deterrent against evil because as a seed they have stored within them the positive life force of all living and growing things.

Pinto beans are an excellent source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, pinto beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with whole grains such as rice, pinto beans provide virtually fat-free high quality protein. But this is far from all pinto beans have to offer. Pinto beans are a good source of two important B vitamins--thiamin (vitamin B1) and pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and many beneficial minerals including molybdenum, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, and copper.
Medicine
Bean pods are effective in lowing blood sugar levels and can be used (with the concurrence of a doctor) for mild cases of diabetes. A bean pod diet for this purpose would mean eating 9-16 lb. of pods per week (they can be cooked like vegetables). The pods are most effective before the beans are ripe, and fresh pods are more effective than dried. Dried pods are particularly to be used in conjunction or rotation with other efficacious herbs, such as bilberry, milfoil, dandelion, and juniper. These can be taken alone or mixed, as a tea. Bean pod tea is useful for dropsy, sciatica, chronic rheumatism, kidney and bladder problems, uric acid accumulations, and loss of albumin in the urine during pregnancy. Externally, promotes healing of ulcers and sores. Prolonged use of the decoction made from the beans is recommended for difficult cases of acne. Bean meal can also be applied directly to the skin for moist eczema, eruptions, and itching. Wash the skin every 2-3 hours with German chamomile tea and apply new meal.
Poison
Intake of dietary fiber in excess of 50 grams per day may cause an intestinal obstruction in susceptible individuals. In most individuals, however, this amount of fiber will improve (rather than compromise) bowel health.Excessive intake of fiber can also cause a fluid imbalance, leading to dehydration. Individuals who decide to suddenly double or triple their fiber intake are often advised to double or triple their water intake for this reason. In addition, excessive intake of nonfermentable fiber, typically in supplemental form, may lead to mineral deficiencies by reducing the absorption or increasing the excretion of minerals, especially when mineral intake is too low or when mineral needs are increased such as during pregnancy, lactation, or adolescence

Ingredients:
1 1/2  cups sugar, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon, nutmeg, 1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed pinto beans, 1 whole egg beaten, 2 egg yolks, beaten, 1 teaspoon, vanilla, 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Preparation:
Combine sugar and spices in a medium mixing bowl; mix well. Add beans, egg, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well until smooth. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 45 minutes or until set.
** The pinto bean pie you tried on the bean meal had half of the eggs and half of the sugar here shown. It was my mistake, but still, I think it tasted much nicer without so much sugar. And don’t try to boil other kind of bean, neither several types together, they all have different boiling times and tastes.

Scattering bean flowers is thought to placate demons in many countries particularly in the Far East, it is
associated with death and the spirits of the dead. If one bean in a row should
come up white instead of green, an English tradition associates this occurrence
with death.
Broad beans were thought to possess the soul of the dead, and when in flower it was believed that accidents were more likely to happen. The bean would grow upside-down during a leap year. The shape of the
bean was associated with death and ghosts. Scattering some around the outside of
the house would stave of such attentions for 12 months.
Broad beans have also been associated with forecasting the future. An European belief was that three beans should be prepared in different ways to produce an outcome and then hidden on Midsummer Eve for the enquirer to find. The untouched bean
indicated wealth, the half-peeled bean indicated a comfortable life, whilst the third fully peeled bean indicated poverty. The future was revealed by which bean was found first.
There is a legend concerning the philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras and a bean field. He believed that some souls, when leaving their bodies, became beans, so he refused to eat them. When there were enemies pursuing him, believing that he was a magician who needed to be put to death, he ran until he came to a bean field. Since he thought that the vines had souls hanging upon them which he did not want to trample, he instead stood still and allowed himself to be killed.

http://www.beanbible.com  (all you need to know about beans)
http://www.hort.purdue.edu (scientific data)
http://www.egregore.com (medicinal info)
http://www.southernfood.about.com (recipes)
http://www.hungrymonster.com/recipe/recipe-search.cfm?Course_vch=Beans&ttl=356
http://users.ucom.net/~vegan/beans.htm
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
http://www.kew.org/epic/index.htm
United States Department of Education- Plants Database
http://plants.usda.gov/index.html
Intergrated Taxonomic Information Service-USDA
http://www.itis.usda.gov/index.html
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=89
Ensminger AH, Esminger M. K. J. e. al. Food for Health: A Nutrition Encyclopedia. Clovis, California: Pegus Press; 1986.
McIntosh M, Miller C. A diet containing food rich in soluble and insoluble fiber improves glycemic control and reduces hyperlipidemia among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nutr Rev 2001 Feb;59(2):52-5.
Menotti A, Kromhout D, Blackburn H, et al. Food intake patterns and 25-year mortality from coronary heart disease: cross-cultural correlations in the Seven Countries Study. The Seven Countries Study Research Group. Eur J Epidemiol 1999 Jul;15(6):507-15.
Wood, Rebecca. The Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall Press; 1988.