All About Lupins or Lupines - lupinus

A striking plant in both flower and foliage, this relative of the pea and peanut is so easy to grow. The attractive spikes, called racemes, will remind you of a stack of sweet pea flowers, available in hues of blue, yellow, pink, and purple. They also grow wild (lupinus perennis) in some areas in blues and whites. Plant heights typically vary from 1 to 4 feet (30-120 cms).

Growing lupins

Growing them is as simple as planting cuttings or seeds into a sunny well-drained soil, first soaking the seeds in warm water overnight. They may also be planted in the autumn. Their preferred soil is average and they like their roots to be cool, some of the reasons this typically herbaceous perennial naturalizes beautifully. They will spread their seeds freely.

Their role in the flower border is usually to stand elegantly in the background with ground covers around their roots. However, lupinus is a large genus of over 200 species. It is also comprised of annuals and even specimens like lupinus jaimehintoniana of Oaxaca, Mexico which is a 26' (8 m) tree!

A legume

As a member of the legume family, lupins have nodules on their roots that take nitrogen out of the air and bring it into the soil, a process called nitrogen fixation. This fixation is accomplished through a symbiotic relationship between the legume and a bacteria. A gardener can take advantage of this by placing lupins near plants that require higher nitrogen.

Certain lupines are under widespread cultivation in some countries as a green manure, for livestock foraging, and as a high-protein additive in animal and human foods. Only the sweet varieties should be used for livestock as some others can be poisonous to them.

Lupin beans and flour

The Lupin seed is an edible bean that requires some processing before eating. Just don't try it at home! Many varieties are high in alkaloids resulting in extreme bitterness and are only edible after being soaked for days in salted water. But despite this, lupins have been cultivated since the ancient Egyptian civilization and then the Roman Empire spread them far.

Of the more edible lupins, white lupin or field lupin (lupinus albus) is most common in the Mediterranean while lupinus mutabilis of the Andes goes by many names: South American lupin, Andean lupin, chichi, tarsi, Peruvian field lupin, and pearl lupin. The edible varieties are called sweet lupins for their lower levels of alkaloids.

Lupins are often sold in a brine similar to olives. They are a snack food in some countries under different names. I marvel at the ingenuity of hungry humans to turn a bitter bean into a snack food.

Lupin flour, made from the beans, is commercially available with a nutritional profile somewhat like other bean flours, for example gram (chickpea) flour. They are higher in protein and lower in carbs than grain flours.

Use caution if you are allergic to peas or peanuts since you may also be allergic to lupins.

Lupins in culture

You really don't hear of them that often which is probably the reason Monty Python's Flying Circus featured lupins in their Dennis Moore comedy sketch. Some things must be experienced.

References

Lupinus - Wikipedia
Lupin bean - Wikipedia
Planting Lupine Flowers - How To Grow Lupines
Nitrogen fixation
Sweet (Edible) Lupins: Try Them In Your Garden!
Is lupin the next super grain?

Images

The second photo is by Pixabay.com. Others are from the iPad of @kansuze.

@kansuze