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Lupinus angustifolius

Common name:	Blue Lupin	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The seed of many lupin species contain bitter-tasting toxic alkaloids, though there are often sweet varieties within that species that are completely wholesome[65, 76]. Taste is a very clear indicator. These toxic alkaloids can be leeched out of the seed by soaking it overnight and discarding the soak water. It may also be necessary to change the water once during cooking. Fungal toxins also readily invade the crushed seed and can cause chronic illness[65].
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean.
Habitat:	Cultivated and rocky ground on light acid soils45, 50].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	L. linifolius[G] L. reticulatus[G] L. varius[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Blauwe Lupine [D], Narrow-leaf Lupine [B], Narrowleaf Lupine [P], Thermos Hemeros [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	angustifolius = narrow leaved;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1m by 0.25m . . It is in leaf from April to October, in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Cultivar 'Uniwhite': Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - cooked[177]. Used as a protein-rich vegetable or savoury dish in any of the ways that cooked beans are used, they can also be roasted or ground into a powder. If the seed is bitter this is due to the presence of toxic alkaloids and the seed should be thoroughly leached before being cooked. The seeds of low-alkaloid varieties is used in making 'tempeh'[183]. The seed is rich in protein, though it is deficient in the amino-acid methionine[240]. The protein has a high digestibility (90%) and biological value(53%)[240].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Green manure.

A good green manure plant, it produces a good bulk of organic matter and fixes atmospheric nitrogen[200]. It also makes phosphorus in the soil more available to other plants[201].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in any moderately good soil[1]. Requires a sunny position[200]. Prefers a light acid soil[50] but tolerates adverse conditions. Dislikes limey soils[50].
Sometimes cultivated for its edible seeds, there are some named varieties that are low in the bitter toxic alkaloids. 'Uniwhite' is a low-alkaloid variety with a permeable seed coat. It has reduced pod-shattering[183] and so is easier to harvest mechanically.
The blue lupin is a good companion plant for most vegetables[201].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water and sow in mid spring in situ[1, 200]. You may need to protect the seed from mice. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
The seed can also be sown in situ as late as early summer as a green manure crop.

Cultivars

'Uniwhite': A low-alkaloid variety with a permeable seed coat[183]. It has reduced pod-shattering[183] and so is easier to harvest mechanically.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Latin and Worldwide Common Names From Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database by M. H. Porcher et. al. 1995 - 2000 Landcare Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Crop Production,Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[76] Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 1984 ISBN 0112425291
Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Lupinus+angustifolius
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