These 50 types of beans span the common dry bean market classes, heirloom cultivars, snap bean varieties, lima and runner beans, and the wider world of Asian and tropical legumes, and each one differs in seed color, preferred climate, days to maturity, and how well it holds up in storage.
Beans belong to the legume family, a group of plants that fix their own nitrogen in the soil, which is part of why so many distinct types have been bred and selected across so many different growing regions over thousands of years. Most beans fall into one of two broad harvest categories: beans picked young and eaten fresh in the pod, and dry beans left on the plant until the pod rattles and the seed inside has fully hardened.
Because these 50 types come from several different plant genera, not just one, their growing needs vary more than a quick glance at a grocery shelf would suggest. Some, like the common bean market classes, need a full frost-free season and struggle in extended humid, wet weather. Others, like tepary beans and moth beans, evolved in arid, nutrient-poor soil and actually perform worse in rich garden beds. A few, like adzuki and mung beans, come from East and South Asia and have day-length and temperature preferences shaped by that origin.
Storage tends to be the one constant across nearly all 50 types once the bean has been dried. A cool, dark, moisture-free pantry between roughly 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, in an airtight container, keeps almost any dry bean at peak color and flavor for about 12 months, with safe eating quality extending well beyond that if moisture and pests are kept out. Figures on days to maturity, climate tolerance, and storage below are drawn from university extension research and published variety trials, and are given as typical ranges, since maturity in particular shifts with planting date, region, and specific cultivar.
The list is grouped by category, moving from the common dry bean market classes familiar in most North American kitchens, through heirloom dry beans, limas, runners and favas, snap bean cultivars, and finally the Asian and tropical legumes that round out the wider bean family.
Common Dry Bean Market Classes
1. Black Beans
Small, oval, and glossy black even after cooking, black beans are one of the most widely grown common bean market classes. Like most common beans, they need a full frost-free season and generally reach maturity in 85 to 115 days from an early summer planting, per Iowa State University Extension. Dried black beans keep peak color and flavor for about 12 months in a cool, airtight pantry container.
2. Dark Red Kidney Beans
Dark red kidney beans are large, glossy, and kidney-shaped, with a deep maroon-red seed coat, and they are the bean most associated with chili because they hold their shape and flavor through long, spiced cooking. They follow the same 85-to-115-day maturity window as other common beans and need well-drained, warm soil to avoid root rot. Stored dry and airtight, they hold quality for roughly a year.
3. Light Red Kidney Beans
Light red kidney beans share the same shape and growing needs as their darker relative but carry a paler, pinkish-red seed coat, and they are the traditional bean in red beans and rice. Maturity, climate needs, and storage life mirror the dark red kidney bean closely, since the two are simply different color selections within the same market class. They are somewhat less heat-tolerant in the field than pinto and black selections grown in the same trial plots.
4. White Kidney (Cannellini) Beans
White kidney beans, better known by their Italian name cannellini, are large, smooth, and ivory-white, with a mild, slightly nutty flavor and a creamy texture once cooked. They mature on the same general timeline as other kidney types, roughly 85 to 115 days, and are more prone to seed coat staining in wet harvest conditions than darker-colored beans, since discoloration shows more easily on a white seed. Dry storage life is about 12 months for best color.
5. Pinto Beans
Pinto beans are a mottled beige and brown when dry, a speckled pattern that fades toward a more uniform brownish-pink once cooked. Based on per-capita consumption figures, pinto beans are the most popular bean in the United States, and they occupy the largest dry bean acreage of any market class nationally, according to Iowa State University Extension. They follow the standard 85-to-115-day common bean maturity window and store well for about a year in a sealed container.
6. Navy Beans
Navy beans, also called pea beans, are small, oval, and pure white, prized for their mild flavor and their tendency to soften and thicken cooking liquid, which makes them a natural fit for baked beans and soups. They are the second-largest dry bean market class by U.S. acreage after pinto beans and mature on the same 85-to-115-day timeline. Like other white-seeded beans, they show storage discoloration more readily than darker types if exposed to light.
7. Great Northern Beans
Great Northern beans are medium-sized, oval, and white, larger than a navy bean but smaller than a cannellini, with a mild flavor that takes on the taste of whatever they are cooked with. They share the standard common bean maturity range and climate needs, doing best with well-drained soil and a full warm season. Dry storage life is about 12 months for peak quality in a cool, dark pantry.
8. Small Red (Red Mexican) Beans
Small red beans, sometimes labeled Red Mexican beans, are compact, oval, and a deep brick red, smaller than a kidney bean but similar in color, and they are common in chili and in enchilada-style dishes. They mature in the standard 85-to-115-day common bean window and are grown across many of the same regions as pinto beans. Stored dry and sealed, they keep for roughly a year.
9. Pink Beans
Pink beans are small, oval, and a pale pinkish-tan, closely related to both the pinto and small red classes, and they are a traditional choice in Puerto Rican and broader Caribbean cooking. Growing needs and maturity timing track the rest of the common bean group, generally 85 to 115 days. They hold their color and flavor for about a year in airtight, cool storage.
10. Cranberry Beans
Cranberry beans, also called Roman or borlotti beans, are plump and cream-colored with distinctive reddish-maroon streaks that fade once cooked. They are grown as both a fresh shell bean and a dry bean, with dry maturity falling in the same 85-to-115-day range as other common beans. Because the streaked pattern relies on light exposure during pod fill, cranberry beans are somewhat more climate-sensitive at harvest time than solid-colored types.
11. Yellow Beans (Mayocoba/Peruano)
Yellow beans, marketed under names like Mayocoba and Peruano, are smooth, pale yellow, and slightly larger than a pinto, with a buttery texture once cooked that makes them popular in Mexican cooking. They mature within the common 85-to-115-day window and are more heat-tolerant in the field than some paler market classes. Dry storage life matches other common beans at roughly 12 months for best quality.
12. Marrow Beans
Marrow beans are large, round, and white, an older heirloom-leaning market class that was once far more widely grown in the northeastern United States than it is today. They share the general common bean maturity timeline and climate needs, though marrow bean acreage has shrunk in favor of navy and Great Northern types bred for higher yield. Stored dry, they keep for about a year.
13. Flat Small White Beans
Flat small white beans are a regional market class grown mainly in northern Idaho, distinguished by their flattened shape compared with the rounder small white beans grown along the Pacific coast. Maturity and climate needs follow the standard common bean pattern. Storage guidance is the same as for other white dry beans: cool, dark, and airtight to limit light-related discoloration.
14. Soldier Beans
Soldier beans are medium-sized, white, and marked with a distinctive maroon patch near the eye that resembles a toy soldier, a New England heirloom market class still grown on a small scale. They mature in the standard common bean range and are typically grown in cooler northern climates. Dry storage life is about a year in a sealed, cool container.
Heirloom and Specialty Dry Beans
15. Anasazi Beans
Anasazi beans are speckled maroon and white, an heirloom variety associated with the American Southwest, with a slightly sweeter flavor and shorter cooking time than many other dry beans. They generally mature within the common bean’s 85-to-115-day window and are well suited to the warm, dry summers of their native growing region. Stored dry, they keep their color and flavor for about 12 months.
16. Jacob’s Cattle Beans
Jacob’s Cattle beans, also called Trout beans, are white with distinctive dark maroon splotches, an old New England heirloom prized for baking and soups. Maturity and climate needs track the standard common bean pattern, and the variety tends to do well in cooler northern growing regions. Dry storage guidance is the same as for other common bean types.
17. Appaloosa Beans
Appaloosa beans are similar in size and shape to a pinto but larger, thinner, and marked with a more striking dark-and-light speckled pattern. They mature on the same general timeline as other common dry beans and share the same warm-season, frost-free growing requirements. Stored airtight and cool, they hold quality for around a year.
18. Rattlesnake Beans
Rattlesnake beans, closely related to pintos, are most often grown as a pole snap bean with purple-streaked green pods, though the seed can also be dried and used like other common beans. As a pole variety, they typically need 60 to 110 days to reach snap maturity, per University of Maryland Extension, and longer if left to dry fully on the vine. Dried seed stores like any other common bean, for about a year at peak quality.
19. Tiger Eye Beans
Tiger Eye beans are a speckled reddish-brown and cream heirloom bean, similar in size to a pinto, known for a rich, meaty flavor once cooked. They follow the standard common bean maturity and climate pattern, needing a full warm season without hard frost. Dry storage life is about 12 months in a sealed, cool container.
20. Vaquero (Orca) Beans
Vaquero beans, also sold as Orca beans, have a striking black-and-white pattern on a medium-sized oval seed, making them as popular for ornamental use as for eating. Growing needs and maturity timing follow the general common bean range. They store the same as other dry heirloom beans, holding color and flavor for roughly a year.
21. Calypso Beans
Calypso beans, sometimes called Orca beans in some regions or Yin Yang beans for their half-black, half-white seed coat, are a striking heirloom variety grown mostly for its appearance and mild flavor. Maturity and climate tolerance track the standard common bean pattern. As with other patterned beans, keeping them out of direct light in storage helps preserve the sharp color contrast.
22. Christmas Lima Beans
Christmas lima beans are large, flat, and splashed with a deep maroon and cream pattern reminiscent of a chestnut, and they carry a rich, nutty flavor that intensifies with age. As a lima bean type, they need a longer, warmer season than common beans, generally 85 to 110 days for pole types, per University of Maryland Extension. Dry storage is the same as for other beans, roughly a year for peak quality.
Lima Beans
23. Baby Lima (Sieva) Beans
Baby lima beans, also called Sieva beans, are small, flat, and pale green to cream-colored, with a milder flavor and shorter cooking time than the larger Fordhook type. Bush baby limas typically mature in 65 to 75 days, while pole types need 85 to 110 days, according to University of Maryland Extension. Lima beans need consistently warm soil, at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit, to germinate well, and dry storage life is comparable to other dry beans at about a year.
24. Fordhook Lima Beans
Fordhook lima beans are large, flat, and pale green, drying to a cream color, and are the classic large lima found in most grocery freezer sections. As a bush type, they mature in about 65 to 75 days, or 85 to 110 days for pole selections, and like other limas they are more sensitive to cool soil than common beans. Dried Fordhook limas store well for roughly a year in a cool, airtight container.
Runner and Broad Beans
25. Scarlet Runner Beans
Scarlet runner beans are large, climbing vines that can reach 10 feet, grown as much for their bright red, hummingbird-attracting flowers as for the bean itself, per University of Minnesota Extension. The dry seed is large and ranges from white to violet-black mottled with deep red, and the pods can be picked young and used like a snap bean before the seed matures. Runner beans generally need a full warm season to dry down fully and store like other dry beans once fully mature.
26. White (Dutch) Runner Beans
White runner beans share the same climbing habit, large flat pods, and long growing season as scarlet runner beans, but carry white flowers and a solid white seed rather than a mottled colored one. They are grown similarly, on a sturdy trellis in full sun, and take a comparably long season to reach dry maturity. Stored dry, they keep for about a year like other large-seeded beans.
27. Fava (Broad) Beans
Fava beans, also called broad beans, are large, flat, and pale green, drying to a tan or brown color, and unlike nearly every other bean on this list they are a cool-season crop that does not tolerate summer heat well. They are typically sown very early in spring and can be ready as green shell beans in late June or early July, and are the exception among beans in tolerating light frost, according to Virginia Tech Extension. Dried favas store the same as other dry beans, roughly a year at peak quality in a cool, airtight container.
Snap and Green Bean Types
28. Blue Lake Snap Beans
Blue Lake beans are a widely grown green snap bean, straight-podded and stringless, available in both bush and pole forms. Bush snap beans generally mature in 50 to 60 days, per University of Maryland Extension, and Blue Lake pole types run slightly longer with heavier yields per plant. Snap beans are eaten fresh rather than dried, so they are best used within a few days of harvest rather than stored long term.
29. Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
Kentucky Wonder is a classic pole snap bean with long, slightly curved green pods and a strong, productive vine. As a pole type, it needs 60 to 110 days to reach harvest, considerably longer than most bush snap beans, and rewards a tall, sturdy trellis with a sustained multi-week harvest window. Because it is grown as a fresh snap bean, it does not carry the long dry storage life of common dry beans.
30. Romano (Italian Flat Pod) Beans
Romano beans are a flat-podded snap bean, wider and meatier than a round green bean, available in both bush and pole growth habits. Maturity generally falls in the 50-to-60-day range for bush types, similar to standard snap beans, with pole selections needing longer. Like other snap beans, Romano beans are grown for fresh eating and do not have the extended dry storage life of common beans.
31. French Filet (Haricot Vert) Beans
French filet beans, often sold under the French name haricot vert, are thin, tender, straight-podded snap beans harvested young for their delicate texture. They mature quickly, generally in the same 50-to-60-day range as other bush snap beans, and are best picked while the pod is still slender. As a fresh bean, they are meant for immediate use rather than pantry storage.
32. Yellow Wax Beans
Yellow wax beans are simply a yellow-podded version of the standard green snap bean, with the same growth habit, maturity window of roughly 50 to 60 days for bush types, and cultivation needs. The color comes from a genetic trait that suppresses chlorophyll in the pod rather than any difference in the seed itself. Like other snap beans, they are grown for fresh use rather than long-term storage.
33. Dragon Tongue Beans
Dragon Tongue is a Dutch heirloom wax bean with a cream-colored pod streaked in purple, a pattern that fades when cooked, and it is often left to mature slightly longer than other wax types for a fuller flavor. It generally reaches harvest in about 57 days from planting and handles summer heat reasonably well without significant blossom drop. As with other snap beans, it is grown for fresh eating rather than dry storage.
34. Purple Pod (Royal Burgundy) Beans
Purple pod beans, sold under names like Royal Burgundy, are a snap bean with a deep purple pod that turns green when cooked, a trait that also makes the young pods easier to spot against garden foliage. Maturity and growing needs track standard bush snap beans, generally 50 to 60 days. They are a fresh-eating bean without the extended shelf life of a dry bean type.
35. Half-Runner Beans
Half-runner beans have a growth habit between bush and pole types, producing runners around 3 feet long but generally grown and harvested like a bush bean, according to University of Maryland Extension. They are heavy yielders and benefit from light trellising even though they are not true climbers. As a snap bean, they are best used fresh rather than stored dry.
Asian and World Legumes
36. Black-Eyed Peas (Cowpeas)
Black-eyed peas are a type of cowpea, not a true pea, with a cream-colored seed marked by a distinctive black eye at the hilum. They are notably heat- and drought-tolerant, generally reaching dry maturity in 90 to 100 days from a June planting, with pods setting in about 60 days, per Iowa State University Extension. Dried black-eyed peas store like other dry legumes, keeping quality for around a year in a cool, airtight container.
37. Yardlong (Asparagus) Beans
Yardlong beans, also called asparagus beans, are a cowpea relative grown for their extremely long, slender green pods, often 1 to 2 feet in length, harvested and eaten fresh well before the seed inside matures. They share the same heat tolerance and warm-season growing needs as other cowpea types and need a trellis to support their vigorous climbing habit. Because they are typically harvested young, they are a fresh-eating bean rather than one grown mainly for dry storage.
38. Catjang Cowpeas
Catjang is a lesser-known cowpea type grown mainly for dry seed and animal forage, with a more upright, less vining growth habit than yardlong types and seed color that ranges from cream to brown. It shares the general cowpea maturity window, typically 60 to 90 days to pod set and around 90 to 100 days to full dry maturity, and the same drought and heat tolerance as other cowpeas. Dry storage guidance matches other dry legumes.
39. Mung Beans
Mung beans are small, round, and olive-green, best known in the West as the source of the common bean sprout used in stir-fries. They are a fast-maturing, compact bush legume, typically ready in around 65 days from planting, and prefer warm soil and full sun. Dried mung beans store well, similar to other small dry legumes, for around a year in a sealed container.
40. Adzuki (Azuki) Beans
Adzuki beans are small and a deep reddish-brown, prized in East Asian cooking for sweetened bean paste. They need a notably longer season than many other beans, generally 90 to 120 days depending on the cultivar, and they are fairly drought-tolerant once established, according to Oregon State University Extension. Like other small dry beans, they keep well in a cool, airtight container for about a year.
41. Moth Beans
Moth beans are a small, drought-hardy legume native to arid regions of South Asia, with a seed color ranging from yellow-brown to mottled, and they are grown mainly where water is limited and heat is extreme. They mature relatively quickly for a legume bred for harsh conditions, and their tolerance for poor, dry soil makes them similar in growing profile to the tepary bean. Dry storage follows the same cool, airtight guidance as other small legumes.
42. Rice Beans
Rice beans are a small, glossy, often yellow or red-brown legume grown widely across South and Southeast Asia, valued for tolerating poor soil and partial shade better than many other beans. They generally need a longer, warm growing season to mature fully and dry down in the pod. Once dried, they store similarly to mung and adzuki beans.
43. Urad (Black Gram) Beans
Urad beans, also called black gram, are small and black-skinned with a cream-colored interior once split, a staple in South Asian cooking used both whole and split as dal. They need a warm season comparable to other Vigna-type legumes and are somewhat more heat-tolerant than common beans. Dry storage guidance is the same as for other small legumes, around a year for best quality.
44. Hyacinth Beans
Hyacinth beans, also known by the botanical genus name lablab in some markets, are a vigorous climbing legume grown as much for its purple flowers and glossy purple pods as for its edible seed, which requires thorough cooking before eating. They need a long, warm season and are frequently grown as an ornamental vine in cooler climates where the seed never fully matures. Where seed is harvested and dried, storage follows standard dry legume guidance.
45. Winged Beans
Winged beans are a tropical climbing legume named for the four ruffled wings that run the length of the pod, and the entire plant, including a tuberous root, is edible. Native to tropical regions, they are especially frost-sensitive and need a long, warm season to produce mature seed, according to Epic Gardening’s growing guide. In most of the United States they are grown as a frost-tender annual, and any dried seed stores like other dry legumes.
46. Velvet Beans
Velvet beans, sometimes called mucuna beans, are a vigorous tropical climbing legume with fuzzy, itch-inducing pods and dark mottled seed, grown historically as forage and green manure as much as for direct human consumption. They need a long, warm, frost-free season, often well over 150 days, to reach seed maturity. Because the pod’s irritating hairs require careful handling, they are less commonly grown in home gardens than other legumes on this list.
47. Tepary Beans (White)
White tepary beans are small and pale, one of the most drought- and heat-tolerant dry beans available, historically grown by Indigenous peoples of the Sonoran Desert. They mature quickly for a dry bean, often in about 60 days, and notably prefer poor, lean soil, since rich garden soil pushes excess leafy growth at the expense of pods. Dried tepary beans store like other small dry beans, holding quality for around a year in a cool, airtight container.
48. Tepary Beans (Brown)
Brown tepary beans share the same fast 60-day maturity, drought tolerance, and preference for poor soil as the white type, differing mainly in their tan to brown seed coat. They are often grown together with corn and squash in traditional dry-farmed plantings, since their nitrogen fixing benefits nearby crops. Storage guidance matches the white tepary bean.
49. Speckled Tepary Beans
Speckled tepary beans are a mottled brown-and-cream variation within the same fast-maturing, heat- and drought-tolerant species as the white and brown types. They share the same roughly 60-day maturity window and thrive in the same lean, dry growing conditions. Like other tepary beans, they store well dried in a cool, airtight container.
50. Soybeans
Soybeans are round, typically yellow-tan when dry, and are grown both as a mature dry bean and, when harvested earlier and green, as edamame. Depending on the maturity group of the cultivar, soybeans generally take 100 to 140 days to reach full dry maturity, and vegetable soybean types bred for edamame use are typically harvested well before that point. Dried soybeans store similarly to other dry legumes, keeping best quality for around a year in a cool, dark, airtight container.
Matching a Bean to a Climate
Across all 50 types, the biggest practical difference is not color or size but climate origin. Common bean market classes and most heirlooms need a full, frost-free warm season and struggle with extended wet, humid weather, since dry beans are more susceptible than many crops to viral, fungal, and bacterial disease under those conditions, according to Iowa State University Extension. Tepary and moth beans sit at the opposite end of that spectrum, having evolved in hot, dry, low-fertility soil where richer garden conditions actually work against them. Fava beans are the clear outlier on the cool end, tolerating light frost and struggling instead with summer heat.
Storage, by contrast, is close to universal once a bean has been fully dried. A cool, dark pantry kept between roughly 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, in an airtight container away from moisture and light, keeps nearly any of these 50 types at peak quality for about 12 months, with safe eating quality extending well beyond that window.
Conclusion
Beans come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and colors, each with unique flavors and textures that define their culinary roles. Some are small and round, others large and flat, with coats ranging from glossy to speckled. They’re grown globally, adapting to climates from cool hills to arid plains, and harvested fresh or dried for versatility.
Their flavors span mild and nutty to rich and earthy, with textures that can be creamy, firm, or starchy, depending on preparation. Fresh varieties snap with crispness, while dried ones soften into hearty bases for slow-cooked meals. Cultivation varies—some climb poles, others hug the ground—needing soils from sandy to rich and temperatures from temperate to tropical.
Nutritionally, they’re powerhouses, packed with protein, fiber, and vitamins, though some require soaking and thorough cooking to unlock digestibility and remove compounds. Quick-cooking types suit fast dishes, while others demand patience, rewarding with depth in soups, stews, or sides. Storage life stretches months to years when dried, a testament to their practicality.
Culinary traditions shape their use—some star in savory staples, others in sweet pastes or crunchy snacks, reflecting regional tastes. Whether sprouted, mashed, or whole, they bridge cultures, offering endless possibilities from garden to plate with minimal fuss or elaborate care, depending on the dish.