All right everyone, I posted this on the heirloom forum like 4 years ago, and although I've had wonderful beans flying towards me, none of them are "right." What I am looking for is a SMALL, PINTO-SIZED bean that is crayola purple and black, mottled. I never once saw an all-black bean, or an all-purple bean, nor a red or maroon colored bean. They have the exact color as many of the Scarlet runner beans out there; that bright crayola purple. Not botanical purple, but actual real, true, dark bright purple! They were a pole bean, and I believe they originated in the Southwest, as the man who grew them had lived in Arizona his entire life, except for a couple years he spent in the military in Hawaii. The pods were green, and my mom says she thinks they had some purple striping, like the popular Rattlesnake pole bean. These beans are consumed as a dry bean as well as a green string bean. It was about 20 years ago that I lost saw them and Mr. Stevens is long gone now, as is his homestead and any possibility of me finding a long-lost bean in the hayloft or anything. If anyone has any info., please pass it on. I want to stress heartily that these are LITTLE beans, not lima bean or runner bean size. They are the size of pintos or maybe kidneys, more rounded, not flat like runners or limas.

Regina