 DESCRIPTION:
Annual to 16". Flowers are blue to violet, turning white, pealike,
to 1/2" wide. Leaves palmately compound, with 5-9 leaflets, each
to 1.5" long, green. Fabaceae (Legume)
Family.
NATURAL HISTORY: Flowers bloom in spring. Called lupine, after the Latin
word for "wolf," because people thought lupine robbed the soil
of its fertility. Truth be known, lupine tends to grow on poor and disturbed
soil (e.g., along roadways) and actually adds to the soil's fertility.
Lupine is a member of the Fabaceae (Legume) Family, and like other members
of the family, has a mutualistic relationship with bacteria that add nitrogen
to the soil. |
