Difference between Pencil Beans and French?

vrkelley

15 years ago

Is there a difference between pencil beans and French bean varieties? Which plant varieties are shorter???

Comments (5)

kayhh
15 years ago
Having a bad case of cabin fever and noticing that your post had not yet been answered, I thought I would look into it.

It seems that these are both Old English terms that are rarely in use, at least in the US.

A French bean is any bean that is eaten in the pod. Americans just say Green Bean.

A pencil bean is any bean that is eaten in the pod and is yellow. Like a pencil. These are commonly known as wax beans.

Both green/french beans and pencil/wax beans come in both pole and bush varieties. Pole varieties are vines that grow up (very tall, upward of 8') and are best grown on fences or trellises. Even planting them in double rows - beans 3" apart, rows 3" apart - they take up only as much space as the fence. Left without support they will sprawl and not be very happy or healthy.
Bush beans grow in bushes, the size of which vary depending on variety. Some are larger than others but in general you can plant 9-16 plants in 1 square foot of space and they rarely grow taller than 2'.

Hope this is helpful. I learned a little something, myself. Kay.
digdirt2
15 years ago
FAIK those are labels usually only used by non-US bean seed companies. So-called French beans are pole beans - climbing pole beans and can easily reach 8 feet tall depending on the supports used. And "pencil" is a label used for the shape of the bean - shaped like a pencil instead of flat or broad pods and they come in both pole and bush varieties.

If it is short plants you want then you need bush bean varieties.

If you need more details I'd suggest you post your question over on the Beans & Legumes forum here as many true bean experts (I'm not one ;) post regularly over there.

Hope this helps.

Dave
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digdirt2
15 years ago
Kay beat me to it. ;) The yellow pencil analogy makes sense to me.
vrkelley
Original Author
15 years ago
That answers it. Thanks everyone!
flora_uk
15 years ago
I'm not sure where kay h has found her information but 'French bean' is normal current UK English for any variety of Phaseolus vulgaris. They are also known culinarily as 'green beans'. Being from the New World there would not have been any 'Old English' terms for such beans. My seed catalogue (King's of Kelvedon, Essex) divides them into 'dwarf French beans' and 'climbing French beans'. Within both sections some varieties are described as 'pencil-podded' types. This refers to their having a round cross section rather than a flat cross section. It does not imply any particular colour. Both green and yellow beans can be pencil podded. 'Runner beans' are any variety of Phaseolus coccineus. They are much more popular here than in the States. King's catalogue for 2009 lists 6 types of climbing FB, 10 dwarf FB and 15 runner beans. There are also 8 favas ('broad beans').

Here is a link that might be useful: King's Seeds - beans

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Difference between Pencil Beans and French?

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kayhh

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Difference between Pencil Beans and French?

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