Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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June 22, 2013 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 604
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Question about herbaceous legumes
Are all herbaceous legumes perennial? None of the common bean, cowpea, kidney bean, pea varieties are herbaceous legumes, are they?
Last edited by chancethegardener; June 22, 2013 at 04:43 PM. |
June 22, 2013 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,543
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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. |
June 22, 2013 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 604
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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? |
June 22, 2013 | #4 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,543
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Quote:
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. |
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June 25, 2013 | #5 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
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Quote:
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.
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-- alias Last edited by dice; June 25, 2013 at 06:24 AM. Reason: clarity |
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June 25, 2013 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 604
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Thanks much habitat_gardener and dice for the information. I was confused by the USDA's categorization in the list. Now it's clear.
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