In the Vineyards: The cycle of Soil, the flavors of Terroir

[Food Network Fan]

The world may never know. This is what I found on the Cook's Thesaurus had to say...

lima bean = butter bean = Madagascar bean = wax bean Pronunciation: LIE-muh Notes: With their buttery flavor, lima beans are great in soups or stews, or on their own as a side dish. The most popular varieties are the small baby lima bean = sieva bean and the larger Fordhooks.You can get limas fresh in their pods in the summer, but many people prefer to use dried lima beans. Shelled frozen limas are a good substitute for fresh, but canned limas aren't nearly as good. The biggest downside is that lima beans are harder to digest than other beans. Substitutes: fresh lima beans OR fava beans (more flavorful) OR soybeans

Cook's Thesaurus: Dry Beans
And then I found this on another site....

The lima bean appears to have first been cultivated in the Andes, while the smaller butter beans were more commonly grown in Mexico. Both styles are grown harvested from seedpods, where in fresh form they’re commonly green. There are some variant colors, among them red and orange. Because they are usually picked before ripening, you’ll find most “fresh” beans in a green color. The smaller lima beans are about .4 inches (1 cm) long, and larger variety lima beans can be about 1.18 inches (3 cm) in length.
There are slight differences in nutritional value between butter and lima beans. Butter beans have tiny amounts of fat, are higher in iron, and are slightly higher in calories. Both types of beans are excellent choices though. While you can find butter beans dried, frozen or canned, they are most preferred as a fresh vegetable side dish. They take about 20 minutes to steam, and are usually served with a pat of butter and a little salt/pepper and herbs.

[ibcheft]

well I found this on yet another site
"The term butter bean is widely used for a large, flat, and white variety of lima bean (P. lunatus var. macrocarpus, or P. limensis^[1]), however, in the Southern United States the Sieva type are traditionally called butter beans, also otherwise known as the Dixie or Henderson type. In that area, Lima beans and butter beans are seen as two distinct types of beans. In the United Kingdom, a "butter bean" is a dried bean which can be purchased either to re-hydrate (in the same manner as dried peas) or as canned (tinned) and ready to use. In culinary use, lima beans and butter beans are distinctly different, the former being small and green, the latter large and yellow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_bean

[Food Network Fan]

Yes I found that too. Now I am more confused than ever.

[BerryBaby]

All I can say is I like butter and fava beans, but not lima. Let your tastebuds be the judge.