The Bluebonnet from the Lupine family, Secret Meaning: Imagination, Rapaciousness. Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine (North America), is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Seeds of various species of lupins have been used as a food for over 3000 years around the Mediterranean and for as much as 6000 years in the Andean highlands. There are many common names for wild lupine: Wild Pea, Wild Bean, Blue Pea, Old Maid’s Bonnet, Quaker-Bonnet, Bluebonnet and Sundial. The name Sundial comes from the phototropic habit of the leaves which orient towards the sun from dawn until dusk finally folding at night to protect them from the chilly nights. The plant’s name was derived from the Latin lupus (wolf) because it was once thought to deplete or wolf the mineral content of the soil. In reality, it is a nitrogen fixer and helps fertilize the soil. In the 13th century, lupines were used to heal a child’s umbilical cord after it was cut.