Plant · P-1150

Tree Lupin

Lupinus arboreus

Tree Lupin is a fast-growing, short-lived shrub that colonises loose coastal sand, throwing up multiple stems of fine grey foliage topped with fragrant yellow pea flowers through spring. It pulls nitrogen from the air into the soil through its roots, measurably enriching the ground wherever it takes hold, and its explosive seed pods can leave a hard-coated seed bank in the sand for years. It runs hard for a few years and then dies, so it works better as a nurse plant that primes poor ground for something longer-lived than as a permanent planting, and the seed carries enough alkaloid to make pods worth keeping away from children and stock.