142 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



LupiNUS, Tourn. L. 



The seeds of the genus Lupinus have long been subjects of 

 study. Malpighi described the seeds of Lupinus as follows : 

 *• Eadem fere configuratio occurrit in pisis & lupinis 302, 

 quorum secundina exterior solitis fistulis A componitur, 

 horizontaliter ductis, quibus multiplices substant ordines 

 utriculorum B, vario situ & figura constautes, bisque coutento 

 semini cellula paratur." Later studies were made by Schlei- 

 den and Vogel, who found a small amount of endosperm 

 present in the seeds of L. tomentosus, DC, and L. yolyphyl- 

 lus, Lind. (L. macroijhyllus, Benth.). Endosperm, accord- 

 ing to Harz, is absent in most of the species, although found 

 in small quantity in L. hirsutus, L. and L. angustifolius, 

 L. Sempolowski found that in the last species it consists 

 of a single row of strongly compressed cells which on the 

 addition of water become mucilaginous. Nadelmann states 

 that L. pohjphyllus, Lind., and L. luteus, L., have a small 

 amount of endosperm while all the others studied by him 

 are without endosperm. In Leguminosae the reserve cellu- 

 lose is, as a rule, found in the endosperm but in several 

 species of Lupinus it occurs in the cotyledons where it is an 

 amyloid. In germination these secondary cell-walls become 

 soluble, the primary wall remaining. Nadelmann has studied 

 the process in detail and concludes that the secondary thick- 

 ening of w^alls in cotyledons constitutes reserve material. 

 The loss of this substance in cotyledons is progressive with the 

 appearance of starch and chlorophyll. The seeds of lupines 

 are highly nitrogenous, containing as much as 42.21 per cent, 

 of albuminoids. These albuminoids in lupine seeds have been 

 called conglutin by Ritthausen. The cellulose is said to occur 

 in two forms by Siewert, useful and useless so far as the 

 food of the plant is concerned. In cotyledons and seed coats 

 11.45 per cent, is of the useful, and 13.24 per cent, of the 

 useless. Seeds of lupines contain a bitter alkaloid known as 

 lupinin which is readily soluble in cold water. Several 

 insoluble alkaloids also occur ; among these, perhaps, small 

 quantities of coniin. In different species the alkaloids vary 

 from 0.02 to 1.0 per cent. 



