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Blue lupine

Lupinus pilosus

Also called Blue Mountain Lupin

Blue lupine
Photo: Zachi Evenor, CC BY 2.0

Blue lupine (Lupinus pilosus) is a Mediterranean annual legume grown for its edible seeds, which need repeated leaching in boiling water before eating. It is a garden and field plant rather than a houseplant, and it thrives in sunny, well-drained, dry conditions.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
Water
Water moderately while establishing, then let the soil dry between waterings; it tolerates dry summers.
Soil
Well-drained, light or sandy soil; tolerates poor, low-fertility ground.
Temperature
10–25 °C; frost-sensitive, protect below about 0 °C.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
E. Medit.
Climate
subtropical

About

Lupinus pilosus, commonly known as blue lupine, (Hebrew: תורמוס ההרים, Arabic: ترمس برّي) is a species of flowering plant that is edible from the family Fabaceae that grows in Mediterranean scrubland.

Uses

Around the South Tyrolean village of Altrei (Anterivo), L. pilosus was historically grown. The seeds were roasted and mixed with malt grains and infused in boiling water to produce a coffee-like but caffeine-free hot beverage, Altreier kaffee ("Altrei coffee"). Since 2006, a local initiative has been reestablishing L. pilosus cultivation in the Altrei region to revive this culinary specialty.

Other Lupinus plants

Drew's silky lupine · Fleshy lupine · Lupinus albert-smithianus · Sicklekeel lupine · Silver lupine · White Lupin · Lupinus alopecuroides · Lupinus amandus · Lupinus anatolicus · Anderson's lupine · Narrowflower lupine · Narrowleaf lupine

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lupinus pilosus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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