Did you know that a runner bean is actually a fruit? Part of the Fabaceae family of plants, Phaseolus coccineus - Scarlet emperor is a legume which originated in the mountains of South America where it grows as a perennial.

Using the botanical classification, anything that contains seeds of the plant is a fruit. This means that pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergine are all fruit. Legumes are a little more tricky, if you eat just the pea or the bean you are eating the seed, if you are eating the fleshy pod, you are eating the fruit and if you are eating both, you are eating the seed and the fruit.

A vegetable is any other part of a plant that isn’t a fruit. For example, carrots, beetroot and parsnip are the swollen tap roots, cauliflower and broccoli are the flowers, spinach, chard and cabbage are the leaves, asparagus is the stem and potatoes are tubers.

So it is quite confusing and is why we all tend to use the ordinary, kitchen definition, that anything sweet and juicy is a fruit and something more fibrous is a vegetable.

The debate has on occasion however become so heated that matters have had to be taken into the hands of the law. In 1893 the US Supreme Court ruled that a tomato was in fact a vegetable and not a fruit. This was relevant as the import tax for vegetables was higher than the tax on fruit and although the court acknowledged that botanically the tomato was in fact a fruit they would align with the ‘ordinary’ definition; the one used in the kitchen. This meant that, for tax purposes the tomato was categorised as a vegetable and not a fruit, attracting a higher import tax and adding even more controversy to the fruit vs vegetable conundrum.

Bertioli’s Bean Flower

Caryn’s botanical water colour paintings of runner beans create patterns for both table linens and our newly launched interiors collection.

Beautifully printed in England, our runner bean fabrics and wallpapers form part of the wider kitchen garden collection which we have used to decorate the newly opened Gardener's Cottage suite at Thyme. Swatches are available to buy in the shop.

Also adorning table linens, the bean flower pairs perfectly with our pale plain green and runner bean napkins looks so pretty for summer dining.

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