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Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Lupinus angustifolius

Lupinus angustifolius

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

Lupinus species in general (and especially the seeds) contain a range of bitter-tasting alkaloids such as lupine, anagyrine, sparteine and hydroxylupanine. The pharmacological effects of these alkaloids are that they block ganglionic transmission, decrease cardiac contractility and contract uterine smooth muscle[1]. When ingested in moderate to large quantities they can cause symptoms such as respiratory depression and slow heartbeat, sleepiness and convulsions[2]. Alkaloid levels can vary greatly from species to species, and this species is considered to be one of the more toxic. However, low-alkaloid, sweeter-tasting varieties have been developed that are cultivated as a food crop. There are also techniques (particularly soaking and discarding the soak water) that lower the alkaloid levels. Unless it is known that the plant is low in alkaloids then caution should be applied to any ingestion of the plant[PFAF]. Fungal toxins can readily invade the crushed seed and can cause chronic illness[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Lupinus angustifolius is a plant of the Mediterranean region, where it is found at elevations up to 1,500 metres. It can be cultivated as a summer annual in temperate regions, and is sometimes cultivated at higher elevations in the tropics (from 1,500 - 2,500 metres)[4]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 18°c, but can tolerate 4 - 26°c[4]. It can tolerate occasional drops in temperature down to around -6°c[4]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 350 - 1,700mm[4]. Requires a sunny position[5]. An easily grown plant, it prefers a light, acid soil but succeeds in any moderately good, well-drained soil[6, 7, 8]. Plants are tolerant of adverse conditions. Dislikes calcareous soils[7]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 4.9 - 8.2[4]. Lupinus angustifolius is often cultivated, mainly as a green manure, in regions with a Mediterranean climate and is sometimes grown in other regions. It used to be a common green manure in America, but has rather fallen into disuse there[9]. There are some named varieties that have been developed for seed consumption which are low in the bitter toxic alkaloids. 'Uniwhite' is a low-alkaloid variety with a permeable seed coat. It has reduced pod-shattering[10] and so is easier to harvest mechanically. Plants commence flowering around 80 - 120 days after sowing, with seeds maturing in 105 - 150 days[4]. Yields of the seeds vary from as low as 290 kilos per hectare in parts of Africa to up to 4.5 tonnes in Australia[4]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[5]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water and sow in mid spring in situ[6, 5]. You may need to protect the seed from mice. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. The seed can also be sown in situ as late as early summer as a green manure crop. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lupinus+angustifolius>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  3. [3]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  4. [4]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [8]The National Non-Food Crops Centre Crop Database — http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/crops/pd.cfm ↩︎An excellent on-line information source, with information on over 100 species (as of 2006) of plants being investigated as bio-crops.
  9. [9]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  10. [10]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  11. [11]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  12. [12]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  14. [14]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
  15. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎