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bean

(Encyclopedia)bean, name applied to the seeds of leguminous trees and shrubs and to various leguminous plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) with edible seeds or seed pods (legumes). The genera and specie...

Bean, Roy

(Encyclopedia)Bean, Roy, c.1825–1903, legendary American frontier judge, b. Mason co., Ky. He left Kentucky in 1847 to seek his fortune in California. Soon, however, he was managing a trading post in Chihuahua, M...

bean beetle

(Encyclopedia)bean beetle, common name for a destructive beetle, Epilachna varivestis, of the ladybird beetle family. Although nearly all other members of this family are beneficial carnivores, the bean beetle atta...

bean weevil

(Encyclopedia)bean weevil, common name for a well-known cosmopolitan species of beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus) that attacks beans and is thought to be native to the United States. It belongs to the family Bruchi...

tonka bean

(Encyclopedia)tonka bean tŏngˈkə [key], black-skinned, aromatic, almondlike single seed from the pod of any tall leguminous tree of the genus Dipteryx in the family Leguminosae (pulse family) of tropical South A...

castor bean

(Encyclopedia)castor bean, bean produced by Ricinus communis, a plant of the spurge family, widely cultivated as an ornamental. Moles die when they eat the roots. It has long been used as an ordeal poison in parts ...

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