Question about herbaceous legumes

[chancethegardener]

Are all herbaceous legumes perennial? None of the common bean, cowpea, kidney bean, pea varieties are herbaceous legumes, are they?

[habitat_gardener]

Not sure what you're asking. If it's herbaceous vs. woody, then beans/peas etc. are herbaceous. If it's perennial vs. annual, then most peas/beans are grown as annuals in temperate climates.

My scarlet runner beans die back to the root in the winter and, for the second year, have resprouted from the root mass. They're monsters this year! I'll have to take a picture the next time I go to the garden.

[chancethegardener]

All cowpeas are annual, in other words their roots are not perennial, right?

I am interested in the following item mentioned in the prohibited plants list of USDA:

Fabaceae (=Leguminosae) (herbaceous spp. only)

Document can be seen at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_heal...itedPlants.pdf

On top of the list, they say that the prohibited article includes seeds only if specifically mentioned. In other words, bean seeds are not prohibited articles. Is my understanding correct?

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by chancethegardener

...On top of the list, they say that the prohibited article includes seeds only if specifically mentioned. In other words, bean seeds are not prohibited articles. Is my understanding correct?

Yes, I interpret it that way, too. But as far as I can tell, it doesn't say anything about annual vs. perennial.

So basically, if you have a bean plant you want to bring from Mexico (or anyplace except Canada), you can't. But you can import the seeds.

But if you have a woody legume plant, such as carob (and you've checked to see it's not listed separately), it's not restricted. There are tons of leguminous trees and shrubs, so that's why "herbaceous" is specified.

I think my runner-bean root mass falls in a gray area. If I had one outside the U.S. or Canada and wanted to import it as a dormant root, it's neither a seed nor a herbaceous plant. (Soils are often restricted, though, so it'd have to be bare root.) If runner beans don't get any of the diseases listed, I might be able to make a case for it. But if it had already sprouted, then it would be a herbaceous plant and clearly prohibited.

[dice]

Originally Posted by chancethegardener

Are all herbaceous legumes perennial? None of the common bean, cowpea, kidney bean, pea varieties are herbaceous legumes, are they?

*All* of the common bean, cowpea, kindey bean, and pea varieties
are herbaceous (not woody). I do not know how many of them might
be perennial in warm enough climates, though. (Winters probably have
to stay above freezing for most of them to be perennial.)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/herbaceous

Look at the definitions after the first one, farther
down the page. I think the mention of "herb" in the first
definition is confusing, because so many "herbs" actually
are woody plants (rosemary, thyme, lavender, etc),
with both woody parts (stems) and herbaceous parts
(leaves).

The vast majority of legumes that I know about only have
herbaceous parts, though. Winter dormant alfalfa,
cold-tolerant clovers, and lupines are perennial
in a lot of climates, even those that have weeks
or months of below freezing weather. All have a low
temperature limit, though, below which the plants
are no longer perennial.

[chancethegardener]

Thanks much habitat_gardener and dice for the information. I was confused by the USDA's categorization in the list. Now it's clear.