Lupinus
Family: Papilionaceae
English: Lupins
This is a beautiful annual herb with wooly, spade - shaped leaves and deep violate and white flowers that played a significant role in the diet of ancient Greeks, According to Lucianus the pallid-yellow seeds of these herbs were used in dinners prepared in honour of Hecate, the goddess of sorcery and "nocturnal ghosts". The seeds were offered to the visitors of the Necromancy oracle of Acheron (one of the rivers of Hades) as special food that would prepare them for communication with the dead. The particular qualities of this herb are attributed to its alkaline content that induces a kind of transcendental experience by blunting the senses, reflecting a state of mind proper to necromancers for communication with the dead.
The commonest species of this herb in Greece are: Lupinus albus, L. angustifolious, L. graecus, and L. histutus. The fruits are more like bean-shaped containing a substance known as "Lupidine" which, in large quantities, can act as poison, provided the fruits are consumed raw. Dry lupines soaked in salty water for a few days lose their toxicity and can be consumed just like pulses. Up until the 19th century the inhabitants of highlands and the poor villagers of Mane (area in Peloponnese) consumed large quantities of fruit from this herb. Seeding-time started in November and gathering in July. In August people would boil the fruits (lupines) in large cauldrons by the sea.
The lupines were subsequently sacked and dipped in the sea to soak their bitterness out for eight days. As a final step in this process, the lupines were spread under the sun to dry before they were stored.
Popular Greek names:
"Lubunia", "Lupina", "Lupinaria", "Picrokoukia", "Thermoi".
