The Botanic Garden holds a collection of wild Phaseoleae - Phaseolinae species. This collection was started in 1965 by G. Le Marchand and R. Maréchal at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Gembloux (Belgium) and transferred to the Garden in 1988.
The collection covers a very wide genetic diversity. It currently includes 2074 accessions representing 231 taxa of the Phaseoleae tribe, chiefly centered on the Phaseolinae subtribe. Phaseolus and Vigna are the best represented genera with respectively 41 species (720 accessions) and 72 species (1158 accessions). The collection also includes material of 21 other genera, e.g. Centrosema, Lablab, Macroptilium, Macrotyloma, ... The largest number of accessions are wild or weedy material, originating from 94 countries. Original accessions are entered into the Collection through exchange or gift.
Seeds for conservation and distribution are collected from plants cultivated in glasshouses of the Garden. They are dried at 15°C and 15% relative humidity to equilibrium moisture constant (5%) and afterwards stored in hermetically sealed packages at -20°C. Small seed samples can be obtained. Click here for conditions for the use of material derived from the Collection.