The lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), initially from South and Central America, is an herbaceous plant that is a part of the legume family (Fabaceae). Commonly known as the lima bean, butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, it is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans. The two gene pools, meso and south American, of cultivated lima beans is believed to point to independent domestication events. The Mesoamerican lima bean is distributed in neotropical lowlands while the other is found in the western Andes.