Slender, twining, trailing stems from a woody taproot reach 1–3 feet long. The distinctive palmately compound leaves have 3 long, slender leaflets, and the small pink-and-white, pea-like flowers have a twisted keel in the center. Note the 1 inch pods have only 3–4 seeds. This species is the most common and widespread Phaseolus in NM.

FLOWER: May–October. Pink and white flowers, 3/8 inch long (1 cm) in loose clusters of 2–5, usually blooming one at a time. Pea-like with one upper banner petal, two side or wing petals, and a distinctively twisted, yellowish-green central keel of 2 petals. The calyx (sepals) cupping the flower base has 5 lobes or teeth. Note that bean pods are 3/4–1 1/4 inches long (2–3 cm), slightly curved, and with 3–4 seeds (not 5–10).

LEAVES: Alternate, palmate with 3 leaflets. Blade 3–10 times longer than wide, 1–2 3/8 inches long (2.5–6 cm); shape variable, linear to narrowly lance-shaped, often with basal humps or lobes n one or both sides to create an arrowhead shape.

HABITAT: Dry, sandy, gravelly soils; arroyos, canyons, mesas, shrub lands; desert grasslands and scrub, sage shrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, ponderosa-Douglas fir forests.

ELEVATION: 4,200–8,200 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, Trans-Pecos TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Easily confused with the narrow-leafed variety of Tepary Bean, P. acutifolius, an annual in much the same range and habitat. Note that Tepary bean pods are 1 1/4–2 3/4 inches long (3–7 cm) with 5–10 seeds. Long-leaf Cologania, Cologania angustifolia, in conifer forest habitats in much the same range, has 3 narrow leaflets but not a coiled keel.

NM COUNTIES: Western half of NM in low- to mid- elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance, Valencia.