Lupinus angustifolius
Narrow lupine ( Lupinus angustifolius )
The Bluebonnet or Narrow lupine ( Lupinus angustifolius ) is a representative of lupins.
Description
The Narrow-leaved Lupine is a one-or two-year herbaceous plant that reaches a height of 40 to 80 centimeters. The hairy stem is round, upright, light green in color. The leaves are alternate arranged, hairy on both sides, and five to seven times palmately incised. The individual sections are oblong obovate or lanceolate. As inflorescences terminal clusters are formed. The zygomorphic, blue butterfly flowers are on short stalks. The point of the keel is often purple - violet. Bloom time is from May to August. When fruits are hairy, straight formed pods that contain four to seven seeds.
Distribution and habitat requirements
The natural range is the Mediterranean. In Africa it occurs naturally in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, in Asia in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, in Europe, in Cyprus, Bulgaria, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Crete, Italy, Sardinia and Sicily, France with Corsica, Portugal and Spain. She was naturalized as an ornamental plant in Central Europe, has already started before the beginning of the 19th century with the planting. They can now be found throughout Central Europe. It thrives in sandy, lime-poor, wet soils and stands of forest, road and roadsides.
System
There are two subspecies:
- L. angustifolius subsp. angustifolius
- L. angustifolius subsp. reticulatus
Use
The plant lives in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacteria and can therefore be used as Rohbodenpionier, for green manure and improve lean forest soils. At the beginning of the 20th century bitter -poor varieties of yellow and white lupine were grown suitable as protein-rich forage for livestock. Alkaloid seeds can be eaten by humans, they contain about 25 % fat and 40 % high-quality protein, among others, the two essential amino acids methionine and tryptophan. Since 1997, according to breeding sector success, even blue Süßlupinensorten approved for commercial cultivation, which have not only a much higher yield potential, a lower sensitivity to frost and susceptibility to anthracnose.