228 LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY} 



In Europe, where stall-feeding of farm animals is more commonly 

 practiced than in this country, it has been found that Lupine 

 fodder is rendered entirely innocuous by steam heating under 

 pressure, which at the same time makes it much more palatable 

 and fattening. Dry heat does not destroy the poison. In many 

 places it would be advisable to put the ground under cultivation 

 with the purpose of replacing these plants by some less dangerous 

 member of the Legume Family. 



SILVERY LUPINE 

 Luplnus argenteus, Pursh. 



Other English names: Blue Pea, Blue Bean. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: July to August. 



Seed-time: August to September. 



Range: Nebraska and the Dakotas to the plains of the Columbia 



River, southward to New Mexico and Arizona. 

 Habitat: Prairies, hillside slopes ; wild pastures and meadows. 



On the sides of the vast foothills of the Rocky Mountains this 

 and other species of Lupines often completely cover the ground for 

 miles, and when in bloom the wide tracts of blue flowers are visible 

 at a great distance. If the plant is to be used for hay it should 

 be harvested while in bloom, or else very late, after the seeds 

 have ripened and been cast from the pods. The leaves remain 

 succulent until frost. 



This is a very variable species but is usually a somewhat shrubby, 

 bushy-branched plant, one to nearly three feet in height, densely 

 covered with fine, silky, appressed hairs. Leaves on slender 

 petioles about as long as the blades, the leaflets five to eight, nearly 

 smooth above but silvery-hairy beneath, linear to lance-shaped and 

 pointed at both ends. Racemes terminal, usually densely flowered, 

 two to five inches long ; calyx-lips unequal, the upper one rather 

 broad, two-toothed, the lower one longer and entire ; petals usually 

 purple but sometimes pale blue or cream-colored, the standard and 

 keel sometimes finely hairy. Pods about an inch long, silky-haired, 

 three- to five-seeded. 



Means of control should be similar to that of the Nebraska Lupine. 



