Scarlet Runner

The sky turned a strange shade of yellow tonight as the sun was setting and the hazy atmosphere was doing some fun things with the light. I went outside to take a look and met up with our neighbors also wondering why the sky was so yellow. They showed me their back yard, which is really nice and they have a wonderful garden. They have a pole green bean that was covered with these fantastic red flowers. I snapped a quick photo...and sorry, the flash went off as it was getting pretty dark....and then came home to look it up. Now you can know all about this veggie.

Phaseolus coccineus, known as runner bean,[1] scarlet runner bean,[1] or multiflora bean,is a plant in the Fabaceae family. Runner beans have also been called "Oregon Lima Bean", and in Nahuatl "ayocotl" or in Spanish "ayocote". It differs from the common bean (P. vulgaris) in several respects: the cotyledons stay in the ground during germination, and the plant is a perennial vine with tuberous roots (though it is usually treated as an annual). This species originated from the mountains of Central America. Most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds (though some have white flowers and white seeds), and they are often grown as ornamental plants.
The vine can grow to two meters (6 feet) or more in length. The green pods are edible whole before they become fibrous, and the seeds can be used fresh or as dried beans. The beans are used in Greek cuisine under the names gígantes (Greek: ????????, giants) and eléfantes (?????????, elephants), which are more than twice as large as regular beans, taste slightly sweeter, and are favored for baking. They are produced in a specific part of northern Greece, but can be found throughout the country. This kind of bean is one of the main dishes used in Iraqi cuisine.

The starchy roots are still eaten by Central American Indians. In the UK, the flowers are often ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans, whereas in the US the scarlet runner is widely grown for its attractive flowers by people who would never think of eating it.The flower is known as a favourite of Hummingbirds.

Runner beans contain traces of the poisonous lectin, Phytohaemagglutinin, found in common beans.