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 7-1 1 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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