Scarlet bean (Phaseolus coccineus) is a frequent crop in small farms and gardens in the North of Spain and Portugal. In spite of the fact of its reduced contribution to the overall production of bean in these countries, some landraces have importance in these areas as a traditional crop for self consumption or sale in local markets (Campion and Servetti, 1991; Zeven, 1993). This species deserves also special attention due to the possibility of being a germplasm source to transfer to common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) resistance to diseases (Vanderborgt, 1983) as well as tolerance to some abiotic stresses. In addition, selection in a P. vulgaris x P. coccineus progeny for increased outcrossing could be an interesting objective of breeding.At the Misión Biológica de Galicia (CSIC, Pontevedra, Spain) there is a germplasm collection, founded in 1987 (Ron et al., 1997), that includes some accessions of P. coccineus. 24 landraces from Spain are studied in the present paper. The evaluation of these landraces was focused on agronomic performance, as well as on quality traits of seed.Peer reviewed