Q & A

Lupines, also commonly known as lupins, are part of the Fabaceae family. Lupines are herbaceous plants and can be either perennials or annuals. Lupines of many species grow from Florida to Washington State and across the world. The Arizona lupine (Lupinus arizonicus) originate in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of the western United States growing 4 to 20 inches in height with deep pink to magenta flowers. The fleshy lupine (Lupinus affinis) ranges of up the California coast all the way up to the southern portion of Oregon. They have a hairy texture growing 8 to 20 inches in height with bluish-purple colors and their banners have white patches. The leaves are palmate and comprised of five to eight leaflets. Orange lupines (Lupinus citrinus) have other common names: fragrant lupine, mariposa lupine and orangeflower lupine. They exist solely in California, particularly around the Sierra Nevada foothills and are annual herbs that grow 4 to 24 inches tall. The plants have palmate leaves, all of which have six to nine leaflets with small flowers approximately a centimeter in length and appear in white, yellow and orange colors.

Lupines bloom in late spring to early summer from mid to late May until June. They are often found in meadows and along roadsides. Lupine is a cool-season crop, and is relatively tolerant of spring frosts. The flowering process is affected by high temperatures which cause blasting of flowers and a subsequent yield reduction.

Most species of lupine containe alkaloids that make the seeds bitter; in the 1920s, however, German farmers developed "sweet lupine," varieties with less bitterness. In Classical and Byzantine years, boiled or roasted lupine beans were selled by street vendors as a snack. Lupine seeds need to be soaked before consumption by people or animals. Though the lupine plants fertilize the soil and the beans provide nutritious food, they also contain an alkaloid which, depending on the circumstances, provides medicines or cause poisoning. The results of lupine poisoning are dizziness, depressed nervous system and heart, labored breathing, convulsions, coma, and death. Due to slight poisoning effects, the lupines became the special food that was offered to the pilgrims of Nekromanteion (oracle of the deceased) at Acheron river, in order to prepare them to communicate with the dead.