Lupines

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Types of Lupines

Lupines are part of the Legume Family. there are between 200 and 600 species ranging from North America all the way over to the coast of the Mediterranean and into Africa.The plants tend to be mainly herbacious and range in hight from 1 to 5 feet tall.

Lupins as Food

From Rome to the Andes, lupin bean pods have long been cultivated for food. The plant was spread through the Mediterranean by the Romans, where even today lupini dishes are common. In North and South America, native tribes ate lupin beans, often after soaking them in salt water to make them edible.

Livestock Uses

Several species of lupin are cultivated for poultry and livestock feed. However, lupin poisoning is a common cause of cattle and sheep deaths, especially in the American West, caused by toxic alkaloids in bitter lupins.

Commercial Uses

Lupins are popular ornemental plants, hardy and easy to grow in a wide variety of climates. Lupin seeds are increasingly being cultivated as a substitute for soy, and can be found as ingredients in such foods as vegan sausage, lupin-tofu, and lupin flour.

Description

Lupins are easily recognized, with a distinctive leaf consisting of many narrow, pointed leaflets, and a tall spike with many individual flowers around the central stem. They are often called bluebonnets or quaker bonnets because of their distinctive shape.

 

Lupines along the shore of Lake Tekapo, New Zealand