Lupine (from RimJournal: art and adobe brick, Mexico, the American Southwest, poetry, fiction and food)

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[Huge clump of lavender-flowered stalks: 36k]

Lupine

(Lupinus sparsiflorus)

Common names: Bluebonnet.
Annual, Pea Family.
Blooms January-May in the Arizona deserts. Another species is the state flower of Texas. Various species range from southern Nevada into Mexico.
8-16 inches (20-40 cm), leaflets form spoke-shaped leaf. Fragrant blooms.

In a good year, lupine grows thickly in sandy washes and along roadsides. Comes from the Latin word for wolf, because the flower was believed to rob soil of fertility. Like all peas, lupine actually fixes nitrogen in the soil and improves it. Bee pollinated, with the nectar guide on the banner petal changing from light to dark after pollination.

Browse color tocs: white to cream | yellow to yellow-orange | pink to red-orange | blue to purple | green, etc.

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