On Sat, 19 Nov 2005, Scott Robins wrote:

> I am not a botanist, nor do I play one on the internet. But...
>
> It looks like butter beans and lima beans are 2 distinct varieties, albeit
> very similar. Most of the web sites I found when I googled "phaseolus
> lunatus" didn't make a distinction, but
> http://www.botanyworld.com/phaseolus.html is one link that does.
>
> It wouldn't surprise me if some unscrupulous farmers passed off plain old
> lima beans as butter beans (or vice versa) to unsuspecting canners :-)
>
> I grew some lima beans in my garden this summer, they were delicious raw
> (tasted very much like peas). They were so much better than the frozen
> ones when cooked I couldn't believe it.
>
> I also learned in my googling that wild lima beans (well, wild "phaseolus
> lunatus" and possibly other variants) can be poisonous until cooked.
>
> ScottR
> --
> Scott Robins
>

Thanks, Scott. That's interesting info. I've always wondered how people
figured out what they could eat and what they couldn't. I saw a facinating
documentary on mushrooms. The guy went out into the woods and pointed out
the "good" ones and the "bad" ones and told why. But somebody had to eat
them to find out which was which. geez. I wouldn't have wanted to have
been in that lottery!

Elaine, too