Phaseolus ritensis is a perennial herb with a large woody taproot. It is a trailing herb with trifoliate leaves and pink to lavender flowers.[2][3][4][5]
Uses
The plant is widely valued for both food and medicine throughout much of its native range.[citation needed] Green and ripe fruits served as an important food source in times past.[when?] Roots are the source of medicine, glue, and a fermenting agent.[6][7]
^M.E.Jones, Contributions of Western Botany. 12: 14. 1908
^Thomas H. Kearney & Robert H. Peebles. 1979. Arizona Flora, with Supplement, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley./ ISBN0-520-00637-2
^P. Martin et al. 2000. Gentry's Rio Mayo Plants. The Tropical Deciduous Forest & Environs of Northwest Mexico. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
^Marechal, R., J. M. Mascherpa & F. Stainier. 1978. Etude taxonomique d'un groupe complexe d'especes ... Phaseolus et Vigna (Papilionaceae) sur ... informatique. Boissiera 28: 1–273.
^G.P Nabhan, J.W. Berry & C.W. Weber. Wild beans of the greater Southwest: Phaseolus metcalfei and P. ritensis. Economic Botany 34:68-85. 1980.
^Pennington, CW. 1963. The Tarahumar of Mexico, their material culture. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City
