French beans are the un-ripe, young fruit and protective pods of various cultivars of the common bean. French beans are known by many common names, including green beans, string beans, snap beans and snaps. They are distinguished from the many differing varieties of beans in that green beans are harvested and consumed with their enclosing pods, typically before the seeds inside have fully matured. This practice is analogous to the harvesting of un-ripened pea pods as snow peas or sugar snap peas. Green beans are classified by growth habit into two major groups, "bush" (or "dwarf"beans and "pole" (or "climbing" beans. Bush beans are short plants, growing to not more than 2 feet (61 cm) in height, often without requiring supports. They generally reach maturity and produce all of their fruit in a relatively short period of time, then cease to produce. Due to this concentrated production and ease of mechanized harvesting, bush type beans are those most often grown on commercial farms. Pole beans have a climbing habit and produce a twisting vine, which must be supported by "poles", trellises, or other means.