548 MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Lupinus leucophyllus Dougl. 



Leafy, densely silky-tomentose perennial; compound leaves; 7-10 oblong- 

 lanceolate leaflets; flowers in sessile racemes, densely flowered; petals blue or 

 pink. 



Distribution. Rocky Mountains, Colorado to Washington, and Northern 

 California. 



Lupinus holosericeus Nutt 



A perennial, shrubby plant with silvery-canescent leaves; 12-20 inches high; 

 compound leaves ; 5-9 lanceolate leaflets ; flowers in whorls or scattered ; calyx 

 bracteolate, the upper slightly 2-cleft; petals bright blue. 



Distribution. Oregon to California. 



Lupinus species. There are many other species of Lupinus in the Rocky 

 Mountains and along the Pacific Coast. A great many of these have been looked 

 upon with suspicion. 



Poisonous properties. European white lupine, Lupinus albus, L. hit ens, and 

 others contain the glucoside lupinin C^ 9 H 24 O ie , a crystalline substance with a 

 bitter taste and a fruity odor; lupinidin CgH^N, a pale yellow, heavy, oil with 

 a pungent, bitter taste; lupinin C 10 H lg NO, also bitter with an apple-like odor; 

 Lupinus angustifolius contains lupinin C 15 H 24 N,O, an intensely powerful alka- 

 line substance. The substance arginin C 6 H 14 N 4 O 2 , found in the etiolated coty- 

 ledons of the lupine and the Soy bean, is a proteid. Prof. Chesnut says in regard 

 to the Lupinus leucophyllus Dougl. : 



The above species is very abundant in Montana, where it is said to have caused the 

 death of a very large number of sheep. There is some question whether the animals were 

 killed by a poisonous constituent of the plant or merely by bloat. The seeds of all the 

 lupines are probably deleterious in the raw state. In Europe, however, the seeds of 

 Lupinus albus, after the bitter taste has been removed by steeping and boiling, are eaten 

 by human beings as well as by cattle. 



The so-called ictrogen obtained by European chemists from some of the 

 lupines can be extracted by weakly alkaline water and is to be regarded as an 

 active poisonous principle. Some European investigators, however, think that 

 the alkaloids are not the cause of the poison. To the above poisonous species 

 we may add L. linifolius, and L. hirsutus. The disease caused by these has 

 long been known in Europe and has received the name of lupinosis. It is com- 

 mon where lupines are used for forage purposes. According to Friedberger 

 and Frohner from one-half to three-fourths of the animals perish. According 

 to Arnold and Schneidermuhl the disease can be produced experimentally with 

 lupinotoxin in sheep, horses, goats, and pigs. This substance occurs chiefly in 

 seeds and pods. Dry heat does not destroy it but steam under pressure does. 

 There is a probability that the poison is produced by metabolism. 



Chesnut and Wilcox, in their paper on Stock-poisoning Plants of Mon- 

 tana, make the following statement in regard to the Lupine poisoning of Mon- 

 tana: 



So far as we have been able to observe, lupines are not very extensively eaten by 

 sheep during the spring and summer. This statement is at least true for normal conditions 

 where sheep are acquainted with the range and are not being trailed or driven. Horses 

 and cattle take kindly to lupines and eat them in large quantities during their immature 

 stages. When sheep are being trailed through strange country, or when they have just 

 been unloaded from cars, and are in a hungry condition, they eat lupines ravenously ii> 

 any stage of growth. The lupines are not considered valuable as forage plants for sheep 

 until after early fall frosts, or until other forage plants have become dry and uninviting as 



