code: 723
It is Endemic to Chile
Family: Fabaceae
Common name: Wide-bannered Lupin, Chick Lupine
Plant Classification: Hardy biennial Hardy annual
Minimum Height: 20 cm
Maximum Height: 30 cm
Packet Content(approx.): 10
This delightful, rarely offered, diminutive annual bears purple or blue and white lupin-type blooms. A charming little plant, it is very floriferous with masses of stubby flower spikes which attract countless pollinating insects and butterflies. Each seed pod contains only two seeds. It is Endemic to Chile, where it is found anywhere from sea level to over 10,000 ft.,
Sowing advice:
For best results, seeds are sown directly into the ground where required in the spring. Alternatively, sow in late winter/early spring in gentle warmth, 15-20 degrees C. Prick out into small 3″ pots and plant in final position when the plants are established.
Habit:
Annual 1–8 dm, sparsely to densely hairy; cotyledons disk-like, persistent, or leaving circular scar. Stem: clearly hollow, at least below. Leaf: petiole 3–15 cm; leaflets 5–11, generally 9, 10–50 mm, 2–12 mm wide, occasionally linear, adaxially glabrous. Inflorescence: 2–30 cm; peduncle 2–30 cm; pedicels 0.5–5 mm; bracts 3.5–12 mm, reflexed, persistent. Flower: 8–18 mm; calyx upper lip 2–6 mm, lower 5–10 mm, appendages generally 0; petals white to dark yellow, pink to dark rose, or lavender to purple, wings generally ciliate on upper (less often lower) margins near claw, keel upper margins ciliate, lower less so or glabrous near claw. Fruit: erect to spreading, often on 1 side of inflorescence, 1–1.5 cm, +- 10 mm wide, ovate, hairy. Seed: 2, tan to brown, generally mottled, wrinkled or smooth. Chromosomes: 2n=48.
Note: Highly variable; varieties intergrade.
