2 minute read
LUPINES
from UNA
You probably have seen those landscapes of Lupine flowers in Iceland either in pictures or in reality.
Today we’re gonna speak a bit about it:
The Lupine is a flower plant that normally grows in North Africa, North America, New Zealand, the Mediterranean and Iceland. The specie that grows in Iceland is Alaskan Lupine or known also as Lupinus Nootkatensis.
The height of this flower plant can round between 50 cm and 120 cm.
Lupins season is summer, lasting around 2 months, from June to August and you can specially see them in the south of the country. In Iceland they're known as Lupines but they're real name in Icelandic is Úlfabaunir, meaning literally “Wolf Beans”.
But did you know that there’s a backup story about Lupines in Iceland?
In 1945 Alaskan Lupine were brought to Iceland as a tool to restore and reactivate the vegetation in the country. This plants make their own fertilizer trapping the nitrogen in the air and sending it to the roots. They’re good for the soil but nowadays they’re invasive and they don’t let some native plants grows.
No matter how, they give the landscape a magical touch and if you land in Iceland in summer, thats probably one of the first images that's gonna remain in your memories forever, the hypnotic purple everywhere.