I have not grown any cranberry type beans but the pod and seed descriptions are different from the borlotto type beans I have grown. Borlotto pods tend to be bright red.

Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco is a pole bean. Shellies are off white with reddish maroon streaks and are up to 15/16 inch long, plump and oval. This fine bean is a bit late for my part of the PNW.

Borlotto Stregonta is a pole bean. Shellies are dark maroon on tan and they can exceed one inch in length. They are the earliest borlotto type that I grow.

Borlotto Solista is a pole bean. Shellies are maroon on cream and they are the lagest borlotto that I have seen, up to 1 1/8 inch long. They are a bit later than Borlotto Stregonta but I can still save seed even without starting them in pots. - Dick

Does anyone know what BORLOTTI,BORLOTTO or BOLITO mean
BOLITA means pellet in spanish
I have not been able to find out what the others mean
I believe the firt two are Italian.The others may be
Spanish or Portugese

This post was edited by hementia8 on Fri, Jan 11, 13 at 11:01

The Italian to English dictionaries disagree. One says that borlotto is a pinto bean, another says kidney bean and another says it is a variety of bean. The last one makes most sense. Borlotti is the plural.

Thank you for responding ... So I take it that there are lots of different types of Borlotti beans. When people or seed places talk about them, they make them sound like there is only one type. Is there a certain strain that is the most commonly grown?

And I guess that the "true" and "vermont" cranberry are NOT borlotti then? Both have, in certain descriptions, said that they are ... and not said it in others, hence the confusion. I was looking for a really nice shelly bean to try and was suggested Borlotti ... I guess I will be looking at the different Borlotto strains mentioned to see what is available near me.

I am in Toronto, in terms of length of summer. I've never had a problem with dry beans before but I do have problems getting long-season tomatoes or chili peppers to ripen ... I never thought it might be a problem with certain types of beans.

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to naming beans. I agree that some English speaking people consider cranberry beans and borlotti to be the same. Borlotto or borlotti is Italian and it may mean "very large colored shelly or dry beans." I do not know which colored large seed shelly or dry beans would qualify in their minds to be borlotti. Perhaps all of them. I have not seen cranberry beans by name on Italian seed company sites.

If you want to try an early borlotto that produces a large crop of long bright red pods full of quality shellies, Borlotto Stregonta is a good one to start with. If that does well, you could add Borlotto Solista. If you can harvest dry seed with weeks to spare, try Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco. That one is late here but perhaps it is not where summers are warmer. They are all fine beans. - Dick

Dick, the last one you mentioned is listed in the SSE yearbook as a pole snap bean
I did not find a listing for the other two
I amagine it can be used as a shelly also
Vermont Cranberry is bush and True Red Cranberry is pole
I grow both
Charlie

This post was edited by hementia8 on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 10:32

Hi Charlie,

Yes, I see that Borlotto Linua di Fuoco is listed in the snaps section. Mistakes do happen. Bird Egg #3 is also in the snap section! I got my seed from IL KE D and it is a fine large shelly. It would be a waste to eat the snaps. The snaps would have to be very young to be edible at all.

If you go to the online Yearbook and do a search for "borlotto" you will find both solista and stregonta. Those listing both mention WA LO R as their source. I have stopped offering them now because they do. I try to mainly offer beans with no other source. - Dick

Dick I am glad that you are a listed member
I wish more growers would do so
I will have to check out your listing whenever the new yearbook arrives
Charlie

Charlie, the online version is an amazing collection of material. You can look at years of past listings plus all the current stuff. I think you can use your current login info for their website to get into the Yearbook. If not, give them a call. Dick

Here is a link that might be useful: SSE Yearbook

This post was edited by drloyd on Thu, Jan 17, 13 at 8:34