197 Broad bean Vicia faba Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean, fava bean, faba bean, field bean, bell bean, or tic bean, is a species of bean (Fabaceae) native to North Africa, southwest and south Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. A variety Vicia faba var. equina Pers. - horse bean has been provisionally recognized. Broad beans are eaten while still young and tender, enabling harvesting to begin as early as the middle of spring for plants started under glass or overwintered in a protected location, but even the main crop sown in early spring will be ready from mid to late summer. Horse beans, left to mature fully, are usually harvested in the late autumn. The young leaves of the plant can also be eaten either raw or cooked like spinach. 26339 Broad_bean 197.jpg image/jpeg 42037 2012-04-20T09:32:55Z 209 Pulses Beans Type 1 2011-02-09T00:37:25Z 2019-05-14T18:04:18Z false specific 3906 true FOOD00197