LUPINUS Mutabilis.
Changeable-flowered Lupin.
Class and Order.—Diadelphia Decandria.
| Syn. | Lupinus mutabilis. | Bot. Mag. pl. 2682. |
| — | Lupinus mutabilis. | Sweet's B. F. G. vol. 2, p. 130. |
Root fibrous—stem suffruticose, branching, smooth—leaves on long petioles, digitate; leaflets (generally nine) oblong, mucronate—spike lateral—flowers verticillate, on short pedicels, white, changing to a beautiful purple as decay approaches—calyx two segments; upper segment erect, emarginate; lower one acute—vexillum nearly round, sides reflexed, yellow at the base—alæ broad obtuse—carina acute, enclosing the parts of fructification—stamens ten—filaments united at the base, concealing the germen—style a little longer than the stamens—stigma very small—legumen broad, margin deeply undulate, containing generally three white smooth seeds.
The genus Lupinus is now become very interesting, from the numerous fine species that have lately been introduced; none can exceed in beauty the one here figured, which possesses a peculiar attraction from its flowers being most beautiful when in a state of decay. According to the Bot. Mag. p. 2682, it was "raised from seeds received by Mr. Barclay, from Bogota, in Columbia, and communicated in flower in August 1826." There is no doubt it will soon be generally cultivated, as it bears seeds in abundance, which may be sown in good rich soil in the open ground, and the plants thus reared will flower abundantly during the summer months, and continue in beauty till destroyed by frost. It is yet uncertain whether this species be more than annual. Amongst the finest of this genus are
| L. polyphyllus. | L. nootkatensis. |
| — canaliculatus. | — perennis. |
| — versicolor. | — lepidus. |
| — bicolor. | |
| — leucophyllus. |
Pl. 44.