lima bean plant

2.8

A plant that grows pods with large flat beans people eat

noun
/ˈlaɪmə bin plænt/

: planta de frijol lima

We planted several lima bean plants in the back garden for their nutritious seeds.

Examples

After a few weeks, the lima bean plant began to flower and produce pods.
The lima bean plant requires a warm climate to thrive throughout the growing season.
The lima bean plant thrives in warm climates.
Many gardeners prefer the lima bean plants for their ease of growth.
The lima bean plant requires plenty of sunlight to produce healthy seeds.
In our community garden, the lima bean plant produces fresh beans during the summer.
She enjoys nurturing her lima bean plants because they are easy to care for.

Synonyms

lima bean

vslima bean plant

9 2.5

A flat pale green or white bean that people cook and eat

focuses on plants producing notably large flat seeds rather than the seed alone

Phaseolus limensis

vslima bean plant

Specialized

9.1

A plant that produces large flat seeds called Lima beans

is the general plant term rather than the species name

Phaseolus lunatus

vslima bean plant

Specialized

7.6

A bush plant that grows small flat edible lima beans

refers to plants that produce larger flat seeds and may be bush or tall

Surface Forms

lima bean plant singular

lima bean plants plural

Morphology

lima + bean + plant

The phrase is compositionally built: 'lima' (a type of bean) + 'bean' (edible seed) modify the head noun 'plant', so it straightforwardly denotes a plant that produces lima beans. This noun‑noun compound follows a common, cross‑linguistic naming pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Lima bean plant gets its name from the city of Lima in Peru, where people first sent the large flat bean to other countries. Because the seeds were called 'lima beans', the plant that makes them became the lima bean plant, so the name simply means the plant that produces those edible seeds.