40 
Colorado Experiment Station 
periment Station, there are 24 different kinds of lupine in Colorado, 
6 or 8 of which are quite common. The others are recorded from but 
one or a very few localities. 
The most common, at least conspicuous, lupines are tall, highly 
[)ranching forms. A number of them form clumps, i to 2 feet tall. 
Very frequently a small annual lupine {Liipinus pusilhis) is sent in 
by stockmen, being regarded with apprehension by them. This lupine 
is usually 4 or 5 inches high, much branched, and covered with long, 
stiff hairs. Another very common species is the spreading lupine 
{lAipinns dccumbens) (figs. 55 and 56). Each plant forms a dense 
clump, T to 3 feet high. The leaflets are green above and silvery- 
hairy beneath. The flowers are in very dense clusters, and varv from 
blue to white. This species is abundant in rather deep soil at lower 
altitudes. It is also found throughout the foothills. 
Poisoning by Inpines.—ViGca.use of their practical importance, 
stockmen should become sufficiently acquainted with these plants to 
be able to recognize them at a glance. The white loco weeds are 
sometimes improperly called lupines. Lupines remain green and offer 
a succulent forage after most other plants have become dry. They 
are eaten mostly in the late fall and constitute one of the chief forage 
plants. Lupine is cut for hay in Montana and is eaten greedily by all 
kinds of stock. The principal poison in lupine is lupinotoxin and it is 
confined mostly to the seeds and seed pods. The chronic condition of 
lupine poisoning is known as lu])inosis. It is apparent that lupine hay, 
to be safe, must be cut either before the pods have formed or late in 
the season after the pods have matured and most of the seeds fallen 
out. While most poisoning occurs from feeding the hay containing 
the seeds, there are cases reported in which animals have been pois- 
ened from grazing on lupines in the late summer and fall. 
Syniptorns of poisoning. —Chronic lupine poisoning is not com¬ 
mon in this country, although a few cases have been noted. In acute 
cases there is cerebral congestion accompanied from the start by 
great mental excitement. Sheep are more often poisoned than horses 
or cattle. Sheep at first become frenzied, butt into things, fall over 
each other, show irregularity of movements, and finally have violent 
spasms, and in fatal cases die in convulsions. The symptoms some¬ 
what resemble those of poisoning by strychnine. 
Preventive and remedial measures. —Prevention consists in avoid¬ 
ing the ripe lupines both on the range and in the hay. Acute cases of 
lupine poisoning are not common in Colorado and no experiments 
have been made in treating the disease. Potassium permanganate 
would probablv be effective as a chemical antidote if given early in 
the attack before too much poison is absorbed from the stomach. 
After absorption the physiological effects may be counteracted by 
morphine, chloral and other sedatives. 
