Tennessee Indian Purple Pod

Pole. Snap bean. Solid purple pods. Pods are long, flat, and wide and tend to curve to the side. Dark green leaves; purple veins. Stems are solid purple. Purple flowers. Fully expanded pods are constricted around seeds. Expanded pods measure 7-9"" long; 0.7-0.9"" wide. Dry pods leathery, non-shattering. Commonly 7 or 8 seeds per pod. Dry beans beige colored; fairly large; long; flat; kidney-shaped. Can be hard seeded. Snap beans are sweet and juicy with great flavor. Tender; juicy; crisp. Weak suture string becoming moderately strong. Shelling (horticultural) beans are creamy and smooth with a buttery flavor. Dry beans have a kidney bean or potato-like flavor and consistency. Dry beans hard seeded. Mid-season maturing when grown in 2014 at Heritage Farm. SSE received this variety circa 1982 from the collection of the late Burt Berrier (d. 1978) of Canon City, Colorado. Over a span of about 30 years, Berrier accumulated around 150 bean varieties, some from the farmers he met in his job as a sales and service man of farm machinery. SSE believes this accession is the same variety which Lyle Settle (NM SE L) mentioned in the 1980 SSE Yearbook Exchange when he wrote: "I would like to suggest that the Burt Berrier purple pod pole bean be called the Berrier-Thwaite purple pod. Mrs. Thwaite was the Indian woman in Tenn that sent them to Burt years ago." However, Settle's naming suggestion didn't take hold and this variety has most frequently been called 'Tennessee Indian Purple Pod' by the SSE membership. SSE Accession # 101814