code: 943
it is very long-lived. Few seeds collected
Family: Fabaceae
Common name: Carolina Lupine, False Lupine, Golden Banner
Plant Classification: Hardy perennial
Minimum Height: 60 cm
Maximum Height: 85 cm
Packet Content(approx.): 10
A spectacular, upright bloomer with a habit rather like a lupin, sprouting late spring, fragrant, primrose-yellow blooms on stems which emerge almost black in the spring, becoming green later. Although it takes a few years to reach its full beauty, it is very long-lived. Few seeds collected.
Sowing advice:
For best results, sow seeds immediately onto a good soil-based compost. Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. They can be sown at any time, and germination can sometimes be quicker if kept at 15 to 20 degrees C. However, we sow most seeds in an unheated greenhouse and wait for natural germination as many seeds have built-in dormancy mechanisms, and often wait for spring before emerging regardless of when they are sown. But spring sowing will obviously give them a full season of growth if successful germination occurs.
Information:
Growing Region: Zones 3 to 9.
Flowers: Late spring through to summer.
Flower Details: Yellow. Pea-like. Terminal racemes. Erect stalks. Similar to lupines.
Fruit: Legume pod. Villous.
Foliage: Herbaceous. Clump forming. Greyish-green. Compound. Oval leaflets.
Sow Outside: Cover seed. Start of spring – before the last light frost, or towards the end of autumn.
Sow Inside: Germination time: two to four weeks. Temperature: 70°F (21°C). First chip seeds, soak for a day in warm water, then sow in peat pots. Seven or eight weeks before the expected last frost. Transplant outdoors following the last frost. Space at 18 to 24 inches (45—60 cm).
Requirements and care: Full sunlight or light shade in hot areas. Good drainage. Acidic to neutral soil pH 5.5 to 7. Gritty soil for best results, but tolerant of most soil types. Can survive in dry soils. Deadhead to promote second bloom. Provide support. Cut back to the ground in autumn. Long taproots make it difficult to transplant. Propagate: by division in the spring.
Family: Fabaceae.
Closely Related Species: Beans, Peas, and other Legumes.
Miscellaneous: Toxic if ingested. Traditionally used by Native Americans to produce yellow dye and as an infusion to treat stomach disorders, especially in horses.
Medicinal
The leaves and root are used in Mongolian medicine. The taste is bitter, the potency is cool and heavy. It is used for treating wounds and fever, and for fortifying the body. It is an ingredient in several traditional prescriptions in Mongolia. The leaves are used as an expectorant. Thermopsis has application in Tibetan medicine. The plant provides a very promising expectorant, superior in its effect to ipecac and other imported agents. The plant contains several alkaloids, including cytisine, anagrine, pachycarpine, rhombifoline, N-methylcytisine, N-formylcytisine, thermopsine, termopsidin, lupanin and spartein. Infusions and extracts of the plant, as well as the alkaloid thermopsin derived from it, act chiefly on the medulla oblongata and cerebrum, more particularly on vomitory, respiratory and vasomotor centers; the effect on the living organism ranges according to dosage from tonic and stimulant to depressive and paralyzing or even fatally asphyxiant. The direct and reflex effects of small doses of thermopsine on the vomitory center are associated with increased secretion of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and are thus conducive to expectoration.
