Under the frame of the Third National Action of Crop Germplasm Survey and Collection, a series of rice bean germplasm in Hunan province were collected and subjected for the phenotypic diversity analysis. The results showed that 76 rice bean landraces were mainly distributed in mountainous regions of western and southern areas of Hunan province with an altitude of about 0-600m. The diversity analysis based on 15 phenotypic traits revealed a higher genetic diversity in this collection. The correlation analysis and principal component analysis suggested four principal components including plant height, seed size, yield, flower color and seed coat color, with a cumulative contribution rate of 68.33%. Two main categories were suggested for 76 accessions, consisting of Group I representing prostrate or indeterminate pod, and Group II representing erect or determinate pods. Moreover, Group I was further divided into two subpopulations. The genotypes in Group I-1 generally showed small plant, low yield per plant, and bigger seed, which the accessions from group I-2 showing larger plant, higher yield per plant and smaller seed were predominant. The core collection containing 22 rice bean accessions has been identified by the cluster analysis and the range of quantitative characters, which represented three groups based on the characteristics: erect accessions suitable for machinery harvest, large grain accessions, as well as the accessions with dual end-uses for grain production and biomass.