[Illustration: Lupinus sparsiflorus
Lupinus havardi]
Common names: LUPINE, BLUEBONNET
Arizona desert: (_Lupinus sparsiflorus_). Violet-purple. January-May.
California desert: (_Lupinus odoratus_). Royal purple. April-May.
Texas desert: (_Lupinus havardi_). Blue-purple. March-April.
Pea family. Size: Bushy, and up to 2 or 2½ feet tall.
Lupines are among the old dependables of spring display flowers of the
desert, usually mingling with other blossoming herbs to create the
bright color pattern for which the desert is famous in early spring, but
occasionally growing in pure stands. Ranging in color from pale pink to
deep purple, the Lupines are usually considered as blue flowers.
The name “Lupine” comes from the Latin word meaning wolf and was applied
to these plants because they were believed to rob the soil of its
fertility. Actually, they prefer the poorer, sandy soils and, by fixing
in the soil nitrogen that they, in common with other plants of the pea
family, are able to obtain from the air, they actually improve the land
on which they grow.
Perhaps the best known display of Lupines takes place each spring in
Texas. Here the “Bluebonnet” (_L. texensis_ and _L. subcarnosus_) has
been named the state flower of Texas, and the annual spring display
attracts thousands of people to the areas of heavy bloom. The majority
of Lupines have handsome flowers, some species are fragrant, and several
species are cultivated as ornamentals. The seeds of a few species
contain alkaloids which are poisonous to livestock, especially sheep.