LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 227 
when they remain green and succulent after grasses and other 
plants have become dry. But observation and experiment have 
demonstrated that, during the time of seed development, Lupines 
are very injurious to grazing animals, particularly sheep. Cattle 
usually reject the seeds, selecting the leafy parts of the plant which 
seem to contain little, if any, of the poisonous property ; but the 
seeds and pods contain a dangerous quantity 
of a substance known as lupinotoxin, which 
causes a disease called lupinosis, the acute 
form of which may cause death in a few 
hours, sometimes less than one. Sheep seem 
to have a preference for the pods, often nib- 
bling them from the plants and leaving the 
rest. Cornevin states that in 1880 more 
than fourteen thousand sheep died of this 
complaint in Germany, where Lupines of 
several species are much used as forage and 
for reclaiming sandy soils where clover does 
not readily “catch.” 
This is rather a large species, one to 
nearly two feet tall, the stems erect and 
branching, covered with fine, appressed, 
silky hairs which give it a glaucous ap- 
pearance. Leaves on rather long petioles, 
the leaflets seven to ten, about two inches 
in length, short-spatulate, usually obtuse, 
smooth above but appressed hairy beneath, 
giving a glaucous appearance. Racemes Fic. 162.— Nebraska 
long and graceful, the flowers large and not Lupine (Lupinus plat- 
tensis). XX. 
crowded on the stalk, pale blue or pur- 
plish, the standard having a conspicuous blotch of darker color. 
Pods numerous, covered with appressed hairs, two- to five-seeded. 
(Fig. 162.) 
Means of control 
Prevent seed production by cutting while in early bloom or 
even before flowering. At times even the green fodder becomes 
dangerous, causing bloat and other symptoms of unwholesomeness. 
