Lupinus leucophyllus
Encyclopedia
Lupinus leucophyllus is a species of lupin
e known by the common name velvet lupine. It is native to western North America, where it grows in many types of mountain, prairie, and plateau habitat. It is a robust, branching, erect perennial herb growing up to 90 centimeters tall. Each palmate leaf is divided into 7 to 11 leaflets up to 7 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in white woolly fibers and stiff hairs. The inflorescence
is dense raceme
of many flowers, each around a centimeter long. The flower is purple in color, fading brown, the patch on the banner petal yellow or brownish. The pointed sepal
s and the back of the banner are hairy to woolly in texture.
This is one of several poisonous lupines that are dangerous to grazing livestock. The plant contains toxic alkaloid
s including lupinine
and the teratogenic
anagyrine.
Lupin
Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
e known by the common name velvet lupine. It is native to western North America, where it grows in many types of mountain, prairie, and plateau habitat. It is a robust, branching, erect perennial herb growing up to 90 centimeters tall. Each palmate leaf is divided into 7 to 11 leaflets up to 7 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in white woolly fibers and stiff hairs. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is dense raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of many flowers, each around a centimeter long. The flower is purple in color, fading brown, the patch on the banner petal yellow or brownish. The pointed sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and the back of the banner are hairy to woolly in texture.
This is one of several poisonous lupines that are dangerous to grazing livestock. The plant contains toxic alkaloid
Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
s including lupinine
Lupinine
Lupinine is a bitter tasting alkaloid present in Lupinus spp. of Leguminosae plants. The scientific literature contains specifications for isolation and for synthesis of this compound. The bitter taste of the lupinus beans renders them unsuitable for human and animal consumption. In the past,...
and the teratogenic
Teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. It is often thought of as the study of human birth defects, but it is much broader than that, taking in other non-birth developmental stages, including puberty; and other non-human life forms, including plants.- Etymology :The...
anagyrine.