Interesting good find, Annette! Are they bush or pole beans? Are they two kinds mixed together, or are the darker ones from a previous year that got darker over time, or does the plant make all three colors on the same vine?

The orange ones look a little bit like Tiger Eye, but Tiger Eye us a bush bean, and the ones I've seen look flatter and less round. Those look so round and plump that I mistook them for Dollofs at first. Some beans like Nightfall have pinpoint dusting or speckling, but not combined with swirls. I don't think I have seen one like this before.

Happy, as far as I know they are a pole bean, whether they're all the same variety or not I don't know I suspect some are just older, so a little darker. I might get more info on them next month. I don't know how old the seed is so I'd better try and grow a few this year.
It has turned cold again so I'll definitely be starting all the beans in the greenhouse this year :(.

Annette

They look like Eye of the Goat bean.

Gary

Gary, they sure look like the same bean, Eye of the Goat is it a pole bean, I was told the beans given to me are. I'll post a closeup of the bean when DH gets home and waves his magic wand.

Annette

Well spotted Gary, here is a pic from Purcell Mtn

Here's a closeup of the beans I have....

The beans are not uniform in size by any means, some are bigger than others, the really dark seed the speckling doesn't show through.
If it's the same bean and it sure looks like it is, it has certainly made the rounds :).

Annette

I thought they were Tiger Eyes too when I saw them. I don't recognize them, sorry. Did the person say what part of Yugoslavia the beans are from, or what they are used for? If it is Eye of the Goat, which is a Mexican bean, it could have been brought from Spain by colonists. And then if this was a variety from Spain, it could have been brought by Sephardic Jews to Bosnia or Croatia or another area in the former Yugoslavia, as many went there during the Inquisition in Spain. This is probably not the case, but just a thought. Anyways, I am going to show these photos to my grandma and mom and see if they know what they might be. I'll also email the thread to some Serbian colleagues on the form. It might be worth while to contact SSE or Seeds of Diversity. And zeedman of course. II wouldn't be surprised if he has seen these or similar beans.

Nick

Nick, not much information came along with the beans other than what I stated previously. I'll make a list of things to ask the gal who gave me these beans, see if she can get more information.

When Eye of the Goat was given as a possibility I started looking for information on it, I read somewhere 'Eye of the Goat' and 'White Speckled Brown Cow Bean' were recently found in a cave in Kenya, Africa and were thought to have originated there. So I think this bean whatever it is has been grown in many different places.

Annette

I always thought beans originated in the Americas. Or are you referring to just these varieties?

Nick, the Americas, I was of the same mind about most beans too. This was something I read, not saying it's a fact. I find it fascinating how beans have travelled the world, where they've ended up, different countries laying claim to them. There's a good book just waiting to be written about these journeys.

Annette

I got a message from Nick about these beans. They look familiar, but I am not at home to search through my collection to see if what I have resembles these. I will have a more definitive answer by Monday.

Nick, I will also respond to you when I get home, your beans are ready to go, but forgot to mail them on Friday.

Annette, a number of books have been written on the exchange of plants and wildlife between the old world and the new and it is a fascinating topic. A good place to start is with A. Crosby's, BiologicaL Imperialism.

Alex

Alex, I could send you a dozen or so beans if this will help.

Annette

No worries Alex.

Also, I got a response from the Bosnian person I spoke of, Vesna. She said that her "baba (grandma) used to call it Srijemusa, Srijemos, some call it cremus, sremus". I looked it up and have seen it in soups in pictures, so I assume it's used for. However, some of the beans don't have the stripes. Maybe they cooked off. Or this could be a generalized term for some beans.

I still haven't anymore information on this bean but last night I saw the gal who gave me the beans and she's going to see if she can find out who exactly who brought them over to this county, when they arrived here and what part of Yugoslavia they came from.

She then handed me a packet of beans she found at the seed exchange table at our garden club, this one is from Japan the name on the packet says Nagatomo White Bean... A heirloom bean from Iwaki Japan. Suitable to cool area. Very prolific. Good for green and dry. The packet also says they were produced in '98 so the seed is pretty old, how much luck I'll have with them germinating we'll have to wait and see. The only thing is I don't know if it's a pole or a green bean. The packet also has the address and phone number of a Japanese Farm in Victoria where these beans came from so maybe I can find more information by contacting them.

Annette

The plot thickens, this year I grew both what I gave the name 'Grandma's Yugoslavian' an unnamed bean given to me by a member of our garden club, she got them from a fellow who's grandmother brought them over from Yugoslavia (all the information I could get). I also grew a few 'Serbian Pole' beans that are grown in the U.K. and Canada by a few people. The bean pods looked similar and I now have dried seed from both of these, they look suspiciously like the same bean, if not darn close. Apparently they also look like 'Eye of the Goat' never grown that one so can't compare. Here's a picture of the two I grew, on the left 'Grandma's Yugoslavian', on the right 'Serbian Pole'. Annette

They do look the same.
Remy