Fig. 10- 14 morphological characteristics of Lima beans
1 .leaf 2. Inflorescence 3. Flag petal 4. Flag petal fuzz detail 5. Wing petal 6. The other side of wing petal 7. Keel petal 8. Stamen sheath 9. Pistil and tray 10. Upper part of style and stigma1/kloc-0. Anthers/kloc-0.
(According to Westphal, 1974).
(1) root
Perennial Lima beans are creeping, and the main roots of large seeds are thick, swollen like tuberous roots, and deeply buried; Small seeds are fibrous roots and buried shallowly.
(2) Stem
Lima beanstalk is mainly divided into three categories: creeping, semi-creeping and erect. The creeping main stem is as high as1.8 ~ 4.0m, the erect dwarf main stem is 30 ~ 90 cm, and the semi-creeping type is between them. Stems are fluffy or smooth, with strong branching, generally 5 ~10 branches.
(3) Leaves
Many varieties of Lima bean showed white stripes on the first pair of true leaves, but gradually disappeared in the later stage. Tripartite compound leaves, petiole 8 ~17 cm long, lobule shapes mainly include oval, broad triangle, lanceolate, etc., length 5 ~13～9cm, width 3 ~ 9 cm, entire, tip pointed, and short hairs on the back of leaves.
(4) flowers
Axillary raceme, pedicel length 15cm, each pedicel bearing 2 ~ 4 florets. The calyx and corolla are small, the flag petal is usually light gray-green, the wing petal is white, the keel petal spirals twice, the diploid stamen (9+ 1), the style is coiled into a ring, and the stigma is inward. Lima bean is a cross-pollinated crop with a natural outcrossing rate of18% ~ 20%. In the process of reproduction and renewal, isolation is needed.
(5) pod
The pod is flat, rectangular, oblong or straight, flat, curved and sickle-shaped, with a length of 5 ~12 cm and a width of1.5 ~ 2.5 cm. The surface of the pod has few short hairs, with a beak at the top, and the beak of the large seed pod is dull, with a thick pod and few cracks. The beaks of small seeds are curved and sharp, and the pods are small and thin, which are easy to crack. Each pod contains 2 ~ 6 seeds.
(6) seeds
Grains vary greatly in size, color and shape, and the main grain shapes are flat kidney, oblate circle, kidney shape and potato shape. The grain colors are white, green, red, brown, purple, black and mottled (striped); The umbilical cord is white, and there are obvious rays from the umbilical cord to the surrounding, which is a remarkable feature different from other bean seeds; Grain length1~ 3 cm, 100 grains weight 40 ~100g; Cotyledons leave soil when seedlings emerge.