PULSE FAMILY LEGUMINOSAE 
WILD LUPINE 
Lupinus perennis L. 
Lupinus comes from the Latin word meaning wolf and 
was used because these plants were supposed to devour 
the fertility of the soil. The fact is that they increase it, 
just as other legumes 
do, by increasing the 
supply of nitrogen 
through activity of the 
bacteria that inhabit 
the tubercles on the 
roots. 
The Wild Lupine 
grows mostly in sandy 
soil and occurs from 
Maine and Ontario to 
Minnesota, south to 
Florida and Louisiana. 
It is common in the sand 
areas of Illinois and 
blooms in May and 
June. 
The plant is peren- 
nial, 1-2 feet high, much 
branched and somewhat 
hairy. The wheel-shaped 
leaves are light green 
; & and have 7-11 leaflets. 
| ; The butterfly-shaped 
flowers are sweet scented, 
vivid blue and very showy, as they bloom in profusion. The calyx 
is deeply 2-lipped. The large standard has its sides turned back, 
and the keel is pointed and curved inward. The 2 wing petals 
are oblong. The 10 stamens are grown together to form a sheath 
about the pistil. Anthers of 2 sorts, oblong and round, alternate. 
The pistil matures into a very hairy pod which contains 5 or 6 
seeds. 
There are white and pink races of this plant as well as the 
ordinary blue to purple form. 
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